


deep end

by krashyashy



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: AU, Eating Disorders, F/F, Gay Panic, Sex, Smut, basically the whole USWNT is here, mentions of abuse, tw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:02:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 37,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24776575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krashyashy/pseuds/krashyashy
Summary: Kristie quickly becomes close to members of the USWNT during her call up prior to the WWC. However, when Lindsey and Mal bet Kristie that she can’t get Rachel Daly to fall in love with her, chaos ensues.tldr it’s the bet fic trope surrounding dewis at the wwc and kristie is on the uswnt as she should be
Relationships: Ashlyn Harris/Ali Krieger, Rachel Daly/Kristie Mewis
Comments: 221
Kudos: 354





	1. bad idea

**Author's Note:**

> hi!!! this is somewhat au and is entirely fictional! it takes place at the 2019 WWC and boston breakers are still a team because it’s convenient 🥰

“Mewis could get any guy she wanted!” Lindsey Horan rattled off as Kristie took another swig of her drink that some random guy had sent for her in the too-full bar. 

“Kristie, that is!” Mallory Pugh laughed, looking across the small table the younger Mewis sister, Sam, rolled her eyes. 

“Whatever, you guys! I’m gonna go hang out where I am appreciated,” Sam replied sassily as she left their table to spend time with Emily Sonnett and Kelley O’Hara. 

Kristie had been thoroughly enjoying spending time with her sister and the entire USWNT during her first World Cup with them. After having been off the roster for so long, she’d been nervous about returning.  


However, the older teammates welcomed her back with open arms while most of the new teammates were Sam’s friends, and thus knew Kristie already. The tournament hadn’t yet begun, but the USWNT along with other teams had been in France for a few days to practice. 

“Seriously, why aren’t you seeing anyone?” Mallory questioned. “You’re definitely the hottest girl on the team.” She continued, pulling Kristie from her thoughts.

“Hey! I thought I was the hottest girl on the team?” Lindsey jumped in. 

“Right, Linds, riiiight,” Mallory laughed. 

Lindsey scowled across the table while her best friend stuck out her tongue toward the blonde. 

“I’ve been with a bunch of guys before, but I’ve never really been the settle down, get married, have six kids type. That’s probably why my parents had Sammy!” Kristie said. 

The three laughed together at Sam’s expense, not noticing some of the Lionesses team members filing into the bar. 

“Sam is definitely going to have like six kids,” Mal laughed.

“Which one of us do you think she’ll have as the godmother?” Lindsey questioned.

“Which one of us? More like which one of the older girls! It’s totally going to end up being Ali and Ashlyn or something. I mean, come on, Lindsey. Do I look like I could be a godmother?” Mal asked. 

Lindsey merely shrugged her shoulders, looking again toward Kristie whose eyes had landed on a different guy in the bar. 

“Kristie,” Lindsey began.

“Kristie?” She asked again when Kristie hadn’t answered. 

“Hellooooo?” She said, snapping in front of Kristie’s face.

“Huh? What?” Kristie asked, snapping out of her momentary trance. 

“Distracted?” Lindsey teased, taking another long sip of her drink.

“Shut up,” Kristie said, putting her hands on her hips.

“He’s not even that cute! I bet you could get any guy in this bar,” Lindsey suggested. 

“And probably any girl,” Mal laughed, seeming more tipsy by the second. 

“Oh, as if Kristie Mewis would ever date a girl! Good one, Mal,” Lindsey laughed, somehow even more tipsy than Mal. 

“Speaking of dating girls, look who it is,” Mal said, suddenly more serious. 

The trio turned their heads toward a lone booth where Millie Bright and Rachel Daly appeared deep in conversation. 

“They’re together?” Kristie asked. 

“I don’t know; Millie is supposed to have a husband, right? But I mean, there’s nothing wrong with it if they are together...” Mallory said, trying to get Lindsey’s attention.

“Aren’t you, like, friends with some of the Lionesses, Linds?” Mal asked. 

“No way! Maybe you’re thinking of some of the Matildas?” Lindsey rolled her eyes.

“Right, right. Different accents. I knew that! Do you know them, Kristie?” Mal wondered out loud.

“The Matildas?” Kristie asked. 

“No! Honestly, I barely even know the Matildas; I mean our competition over there,” Mal said motioning toward the booth yet again. 

“No, I don’t. I might be going to the Dash next season, so I’d be playing with Daly, but all I know is that she was dating a girl on my team a while back.” Kristie responded. 

“I heard she doesn’t put out,” Lindsey added in.

“Really?” Mal asked as Lindsey nodded. 

“You care?” Lindsey asked the younger girl.

“No, she’s just nosy,” Kristie laughed while Mal rolled her eyes. 

A few beats of silence fell upon the group, and Kristie began to think of what she would wear to practice tomorrow, until her thoughts were rudely interrupted. 

“Actually, I have the perfect plan.” Lindsey said, slamming her hands down on the table. 

Her loudness got the group a couple of looks, but Lindsey was too far gone to care. 

“Kristie, since you have a shit ton of game, you should make Rachel fall in love with you and then break it off right before we play England so that they’ll have no chance of beating us.” Lindsey said, looking around wildly. 

“Okay, you have officially had way too much to drink,” Kristie said, finishing her drink and moving to help Lindsey rise from her stool. 

“Wait, that’s actually a great idea,” Mal chimed in. 

“Yes! Exactly! See, somebody understands me.” Lindsey argued.

“That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard,” Kristie retorted, “besides, I don’t even like girls! Everybody knows that! And, breaking Daly’s heart is not going to ruin their team. You guys are insane, let’s go.” Kristie said, attempting again to hoist Lindsey from the stool. 

“Yes it totally will! One time, Alex got super sick before a huge game and we all played terribly because we were worried about her! It will be perfect, Kristie, please?” Mal tried again. 

“Hell. No. Now, let’s get out of here!” Kristie tried again. 

“Yeah, Kris, I’ll bet you $100 you won’t be able to make her fall for you and sleep with you before we play them.” Lindsey bargained, taking a $100 bill from her pocket. 

Kristie scoured her brain for a way to gently turn down their offer. Hurting people and causing drama were two things she was happy to have left in high school. Besides, how could she even sleep with a girl? 

“We don’t even know if we will play them,” Kristie replied, beginning to feel anxious about turning down a challenge.

She wanted more than anything to prove herself to the team members, and she felt like she almost had to say yes to stay in their good graces. 

“We all know we’re going to play them, but whether or not we win is in your hands. And, you know what else could be in your hands? $100.” Lindsey tried. 

“Yeah, imagine we lose and you could have saved us; it’s like the entire World Cup outcome is on you,” Mal batted her eyelashes. 

Being the reason the USWNT lost the World Cup was something Kristie couldn’t handle, even in theory. And, the coaches had chosen not to call her up before. They clearly felt she could make a difference this time, but if she proved them wrong...

“Oh my god, okay, fine! Fine! I’ll do it. But nobody can know.” Kristie said a little too loudly, immediately regretting it. 

Lindsey took a marker that had been on the table and wrote “Kristie’s Bet Money” across the top of the bill, stowing it away again in her pocket. 

“This is such a bad idea.” Kristie said. 

“Bad, genius... same thing!” Mal said. 

“Let’s get out of here before you drink any more,” Kristie said, pulling the other two out of the bar. 


	2. midnight memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys!!! thank you for nearly 250 reads; i can’t believe that many people looked at this!!! thank you 🥺 also my favorite author updated ready for combat as well as a new drabble if you want to check those out!! she is amazing & definitely the better author out of the two of us 💛

The USWNT staff members relayed at the start of the WWC that every few nights, the girls would be switching roommates to ensure everyone on the team stayed close throughout the tournament.For the night of the team’s shenanigans at the bar, Kristie was roomed with Ali Krieger.

“You know, I can swap with Ashlyn if you want,” Kristie suggested as she set returned to the room after delivering Mal and Lindsey back to their rooms.

“No, no, that’s fine! Ash and I are going with what the coaches said. You know, trying to keep team morale or whatever,” Ali smiled. 

Kristie didn’t know the girl very well, but everybody knew that Ali and Ashlyn adored each other. They’d only recently come out about it, and Kristie didn’t understand why the couples of the team weren’t always put in the same room. 

“Speaking of the team, I think we both know someone who definitely should be here right now,” Ali suggested. 

“Who?” Kristie wondered. 

“Syd, of course! I mean, I’m thrilled she’s pregnant, but I miss her, you know?” Ali said. 

“Yeah, I miss Syd a lot too,” Kristie agreed. 

“I think I’m gonna FaceTime her if you want to say hi?” Ali asked, preparing to hit the FaceTime button.

“Yeah, sure!” Kristie agreed from her bed. 

The sound for an outgoing call rang through the hotel room, and before Ali knew it, Cassius had picked up the call. 

“Auntie Ali!” He called from across the screen. 

“Cassius!!” Ali exclaimed, “how are you, buddy?” She asked. 

“I’m good! What about you?” He asked as if he was an adult. 

“I’m good,” Ali laughed, “Where is your mommy?” She asked.

“Mommy! Auntie Ali is in the phone!” Cassius yelled, until Sydney arrived on the screen. 

“Sorry for that,” Sydney laughed.

“It’s fine, you know I love him! But look who I have with me!” Ali said before turning the phone toward Kristie. 

“Kristie!” Sydney shrieked. 

“Syd!” Kristie replied just as excited to see her. 

The two engaged in conversation for a while with Ali about Kristie’s first World Cup and how she was acclimating. Eventually, Ali took over and began discussing her own matters with Sydney. Kristie took this opportunity to look up who she considered her conquest - Rachel Daly. 

Finding the English girl’s Instagram was easy, and apparently Rachel was already following her. Kristie didn’t know Rachel even knew she existed. Scrolling back through Rachel’s photos, Kristie found herself charmed by the girl in a way she hadn’t felt before.  


It was almost as if she thought Rachel was cute in a more than friendly way, but she figured it was just because of the bet. One too many clicks was all it took. 

“Fuck!” Kristie exclaimed, realizing she’d accidentally liked a photo from 2012 on Rachel’s feed. 

Ali looked over immediately, and Kristie heard Syd ask what was wrong through the phone. Her heart was racing a little and she felt perspiration on her palms. 

“I liked someone’s post from a while back,” Kristie said, aggressively refreshing her screen to make sure she’d unliked it. 

“Ooh, who?” Ali questioned. 

_ Nobody nobody nobody; you have to say nobody, _ Kristie’s mind begged. 

“Do you guys know Rachel Daly?” Kristie asked. 

“Why the hell are you stalking Rachel Daly?” Syd wondered. 

“Oh, you know, I, um.. I like her hair color?” Kristie said unconvincingly. 

“And that’s all you like, Kris?” Syd laughed.

“Yes, Syd! I am not gay for the last time!” Kristie laughed. 

Ali merely rolled her eyes, but she too felt it was strange that Kristie was creeping through Rachel Daly’s Instagram at midnight. 

“I’ll talk to you later, Syd. Say hi to everyone for me, okay?” Ali said as she and Sydney hung up their call.

“Rachel Daly, hm?” Ali teased. 

Kristie groaned flopped her phone down as it chimed. Turning it over, she read the notification. 

**Instagram:** One new Direct Message - RachelDaly3

“Oh my god,” Kristie breathed, noticing that her heart fell into her stomach very slightly. 

“What?” Ali questioned, moving to Kristie’s bed. 

“She messaged me; what do I do?” The blonde questioned. 

“Well, just read it! What does it say?” Ali asked peering over Kristie’s shoulder. Internally, Ali wondered why it mattered to much to Kristie that Rachel had sent her a message since she’d just made it clear how straight she was. 

“No, I- it’s no big deal!” The blonde scoffed, following up with, “I am not bothered by this random girl messaging me. Let’s go to bed, we can just forget about it,” Kristie tried to reason.

Ali looked at her as her eyebrows rose, an expression that could only mean one thing: Girl, if you don’t open the message, I am going to lose my shit. 

“Oh god, okay, okay,” Kristie said, clicking the notification. 

_Maybe try stalking me when you’re sober next time instead,_ the message read. 

“Holy shit,” Kristie said. 

Ali looked back and forth from the phone to Kristie, trying to gauge what the hell was going through the blonde’s head. She literally had just said she was straight, right? 

“What do I do?” Kristie asked frantically.

“Well, how do you feel-“ Ali began to ask before she was cut off. 

“She knows I saw it; I have to respond!” Kristie said. 

“Okay, so-“ Ali tried yet again, but Kristie began typing. 

_You couldn’t have said hi?_ Kristie typed, knowing that Rachel must have seen her at the bar earlier. The phone in her hands buzzed yet again and Kristie opened the notification without thinking twice. 

_hi_ , the response said. 

“So I’m just gonna... yeah,” Ali said as she returned to her own bed and got under the covers. 

“But, good luck with that! Goodnight!” Ali said, turning over. 

Thinking Rachel’s response was witty and exactly what she needed, Kristie breathed a sigh of relief and clicked her phone off. Stalking Rachel would have to resume tomorrow between practices and team bonding activities.  


The blonde clicked off the bedside lamp as dreams of winning the World Cup flitted through her mind like butterflies. 


	3. drive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg almost 500 reads?!! thank you so much!!! 🥺 you guys are so kind & i appreciate you! also if you like smut, check out the newest drabble update from my favorite writer; she is amazing! 💛 if you enjoy this, please leave a comment!

The next morning at breakfast, in the England team’s designated hotel, Rachel sat across from Millie at a small table next to the window. 

“So she won’t speak to you?” Millie questioned, resuming their conversation from the night before in the bar about Rachel’s girlfriend, Christine. 

“Right, so I don’t know what to even say,” Rachel replied. 

“Oh, I’ve got it. Just say, “Hey , why are you acting like I don’t exist?” Mate, I don’t think she was good for you to begin with if I’m honest,” Millie said, rolling her eyes, referring to Christine.

“Alright, alright, cut it out, ” Rachel responded.

”Really, Rachel, I mean, when is the last time you two had a real conversation?” Millie questioned.   
  
“I don’t know. I’m not sure it would be that bad if we did break up, save for the tattoos,” she sighed.

Each taking bites of their fruit, a silence fell upon the duo as other members of the team sleepily arrived in the lobby to grab food and return to their rooms. 

Eventually, Rachel broke the silence, saying, “you’ll never guess who I messaged last night.”

“Well we know it’s not Christine,” Millie joked, as Rachel tossed a grape at her.

“Not exactly,” Rachel said vaguely, smiling.

“Well what the fuck do you mean not exactly?” Millie questioned. 

“It’s still _a_ Chris, but not quite spelled the same way,” Rachel said smugly.

“What in the world are you on about?” Millie said incredulously. 

“Mewis; I messaged with Kristie Mewis. You know, the American girl,” Rachel said quietly.

“The girl you said was so fit last night in the bar?” Millie asked loudly, surprised.

“Keep it down, would ya?” Rachel whispered. 

At that point, Rachel checked her watch and realized they needed to be out and to the stadium for practice. On that particular day, the Lionesses would share the stadium with the USWNT during practice. 

The two departed breakfast and began preparing for the day, later heading to the stadium. By the time the Lionesses arrived, the USWNT was already on their side of the field, doing warmups. 

Rachel caught a glimpse of the blonde who was conditioning in line between Christen Press and Alex Morgan. Rachel began stretching and realized that Kristie had never responded to her cheeky message. Perhaps she had been too witty and put the girl off? Rachel focused her attention to her own stretching as Millie arrived beside her. 

“Is that her?” Millie asked, looking toward Kristie across the field as Rachel nodded. 

“I thought you said she liked blokes,” Millie tried to reason, stretching also. 

“Well I haven’t fucking asked her, have I?” Rachel said, laughing. 

“And are you going to?” Millie questioned, raising her eyebrow.

“Maybe. Probably not. I don’t know. She didn’t answer my last message yesterday,” Rachel replied.

“What did you say?” Millie wondered. 

“Hi,” Rachel replied quietly. 

“Well no fucking wonder why she didn’t answer ya, who says just hi?” Millie laughed. 

“Well what would you have done!?” Rachel asked as she leaned down into a lunge.

“What would I have done? I would have broken up with your girlfriend before messaging a leggy blonde American, who, by the way, is our competition in case you’ve forgotten. And, I looked her up. She’s on the same team as your girlfriend who you are still dating,” Millie responded, exasperated.

“I think we’re over already,” Rachel said flatly.

”Yeah? What happened?” Millie asked.   
  
“I spoke to her before practice on the phone, she said she’s seeing someone who’ll actually sleep with her,” Rachel replied.

”Oh, Rachel, that’s awful. She never deserved you to start. How are you feeling?” Millie said, irritated with Christine.  
  
“A bit bummed, but it was quick. Didn’t get to attached this time I guess,” Rachel said glumly.   


“Lucky for you, there’s a girl looking at you right now from the other side of the field.” Millie said.

Rachel was about to respond when the team was brought together to start running. Before the two knew it, they were dripping sweat.

Down the field, Kristie was partnered up with Lindsey for drills when she heard Alyssa curse from the net. 

“Sorry, you guys! I didn’t mean to,” the keeper said, as Kristie peered upwards.  


She realized that Alyssa had kicked the ball way too far and into the territory of the Lionesses practice. 

“Go! Go! Go get it!!” Lindsey encouraged, as the ball landed near Rachel’s feet. 

“Why should I be the one who-“ Kristie began to ask when she was cut off.

“Go, Kris!” Mal yelled from a few feet away. 

“Alright, alright, I got it,” Kristie rolled her eyes, jogging over toward the English team.

She was met with silence from the Lionesses when she arrived in front of Rachel and Millie.

“Sorry, that’s our ball,” Kristie said, slightly out of breath, staring down at the ball as Millie pretended she wasn’t there and walked away, giving the two privacy. 

“Hm, that’s a shame, isn’t it?” Rachel teased kicking the ball around beneath her. 

“Umm,” Kristie stammered, beginning to feel irritated that the shorter girl didn’t immediately give the ball up. 

“What’s wrong, Mewis?” Rachel asked, smirking, followed up by, “Aren’t you going to say hi?” 

Kristie’s eyebrows rose while her mouth formed a small O shape. This girl was playing with her. 

“Hi,” Kristie replied, her voice becoming shallow as she grew incredibly more aggravated but also intrigued. 

She could practically feel her teammate’s eyes on her back, and she knew she’d be questioned about what had taken her so long.   
  


Across the field, Kristie had, indeed, gained the attention of some of her teammates. It didn’t seem that the staff members were paying much attention, but Sam Mewis was. She jogged over to Lindsey and Mal, who were clearly watching everything go down. 

“Hey guys, what’s going on over there?” She asked dumbfounded. 

“Honestly, I can’t wait to find out,” Mal laughed. 

Sam continued to look between the two confusedly. 

“Okay...? Are she and Rachel Daly like, friends or something?” Sam tried again.

“Not yet,” Mallory laughed, as she watched Rachel kick the ball back and forth, not returning it to Kristie. 

“Not yet? What the heck does that mean?” Sam asked. 

“Nothing! It means nothing. Mal is just.. being Mal,” Lindsey responded with a tight smile. 

“You guys are definitely acting weird,” Sam concluded as she walked to the bench. 

“Sammy, what was all that about?” Ali asked as Sam arrived. 

“I have absolutely no idea, but if Kristie is involved in some kind of shenanigans, I want nothing to do with it! When we were little, she always stole cookies from the kitchen before dinner and blamed me for it! Our Mom still believes her!” Sam explained in a huff. 

Ali smiled, mumbling a quiet, “hmm,” before getting up to continue drills. 


	4. no judgement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi hello!!! nearly 700 reads are you guys serious!!!? that’s insane!! thank u so much 🥺 here are some things to keep in mind:  
> 1\. my fav author just updated the drabbles and this one was extra special so go check it out if you like! she and i keep updating on the same days; we are just in sync 😌  
> 2\. rd had a hat trick today and y’all probably heard me yelling about it all the way from nc (and fuck the courage sorry sam & crystal) but it was a goal & we all know it thank you for your time 
> 
> enjoy & please comment 💛

Back on the England side of the field, Rachel was still kicking the American ball around instead of giving it back to Kristie. 

“So you can say hi back! You just choose not to, got it,” Rachel said, her expression unreadable.

Kristie thought for a second that she’d offended the girl by not replying the night before, until Rachel cracked a smile. 

“I’m just messing with ya,” the shorter girl smiled, reaching toward Kristie and touching her shoulder. 

The taller blonde’s shoulder felt like a jolt of electricity had run through it at the touch, and she slightly flinched away. 

_What the hell was that?_ She thought. 

Rachel noticed but didn’t show it, and wondered if she had overstepped. 

“Sorry I didn’t reply,” Kristie said begrudgingly, as she had never been one to apologize.

“No worries!” Rachel replied.

A beat of silence sat between them as Kristie wondered if Rachel was planning to ever give the ball back. She certainly couldn’t miss her practice and interrupt Rachel’s for any longer. 

Rachel has entirely forgotten that Kristie came to retrieve the ball, merely enjoying speaking with the girl. 

Kristie coughed quietly as she looked at the ball when Rachel remembered why the American was there. 

“Oh, right, the ball,” she laughed as Kristie smiled, feeling awkward. 

“I’ll give it back on one condition,” Rachel smirked. 

Kristie rolled her eyes, saying, “I’m listening.” 

“You tell me why you were creeping on my Instagram page at midnight last night,” Rachel smirked again.

Kristie scoffed, responding with, “I was not creeping!” 

Rachel slightly cocked her head, saying, “really? Because it seemed like you were creeping.”

Kristie tried to intercept the ball from her, but was unsuccessful. Rachel’s eyebrows rose as her tongue darted out of her mouth slightly. 

“It was so bad that you’d rather steal the ball than tell me? Maybe that’s everything I needed to know,” Rachel joked as Kristie became red. 

“Why do you want to know so bad?” Kristie asked, turning her attention to the ball to try intercepting it once again, but to no avail. 

“Maybe I don’t and I just want to know you so that I can get in your head and make you lose the World Cup,” Rachel joked.

Kristie froze as soon as she heard those words come from Rachel’s mouth, wondering again if she should try to pull out of the bet. The only reason she was speaking to Rachel was because of the bet, and she was actually enjoying talking to the shorter girl. 

“I’m kidding,” Rachel said after Kristie reminded silent. 

“You can have it, but I do want the whole story. Have dinner with me tonight?” Rachel asked, knowing she was out on a limb. 

Kristie’s eyes widened. The bet was proving to be easier than she’d ever anticipated, and she knew she should call it off. Say no to Rachel, call it off, and try to reconnect with her in a few months after the tournament. 

“Yeah. Um, yeah. Let’s get dinner,” Kristie smiled awkwardly as Rachel passed her the ball. 

“It’s a date! I’ll message you! Hope you answer this time,” Rachel laughed as Kristie rolled her eyes and ran back to her team. 

—

Later that afternoon, Kristie was ambushed by Lindsey and Mal while she grabbed a late lunch from the hotel’s restaurant. 

“We have to get to a sponsor event, but what the heck was that earlier?” Lindsey asked. 

“Just.. the usual! Getting to know our competition,” Kristie replied.

“What did she say? What did you say??” Mal asked, as Lindsey checked her watch.

“Well, we are getting dinner together tonight,” Kristie replied. 

“The bet’s still on! Score!” Lindsey said.

“Won’t that be awkward? Since you’re like, straight?” Mal asked. 

“No? Maybe? I don’t know, I have a lot of friends who are girls,” Kristie replied. 

“Yeah, and she’s not one of them,” Lindsey laughed. 

“I’m not gay!” Kristie said, probably a little too loudly as the two headed toward the door. 

“We really have to be at this event, but for the record, we don’t believe you! Don’t forget the goal; our team is on the line! Bye!” Mal replied, as they left. 

Thinking they were ridiculous, Kristie ate her lunch in silence, pondering. She was straight, right? She began to think back on her interaction with Rachel and question it. Why did it feel the way it felt when Rachel touched her shoulder? And, why had she so enjoyed talking to the shorter girl? Why had she noticed Rachel’s muscles and mostly, why did she like the attention Rachel gave her more than she likes attention from her friends? How much longer could she keep this whole thing up if she was actually, genuinely and possibly feeling something for Rachel? She could **not** be gay. 

Suddenly feeling a little uneasy, Kristie threw the rest of her food away and took an apple back to her room. She _couldn’t_ be gay, right? Her parents would totally flip, _right_? Sam was married to a guy and they were so happy for her. What if Kristie became the family disappointment?

Walking into the room and removing her shirt, feeling warm from her stress, Kristie crashed on the bed. Luckily, Ali was with Ashlyn and not in the room when Kristie’s phone lit up with an Instagram message. Kristie saw what it was and threw her phone as if it was going to burn her.

RachelDaly3 - _still on for tonight, mewis? i know a place_

Kristie eventually mustered up her courage, opening it and saying, _yeah, meet you there?_

RachelDaly3 - _meet me there? what kind of date is that?_

Kmewis19 - _who said it was a date?_

RachelDaly3 - _i did. pick u up in 10; what’s your room #?_

Kmewis19 - _how do you even know which hotel is mine?_

RachelDaly3 - _i have my sources_

Kmewis19 - _312_

RachelDaly3 - _got it_

Thinking that there was no way Rachel would make it in ten minutes, Kristie spent eight of them watching videos on her phone. She jumped up as soon as she heard a key card being scanned as Ali walked in alongside none other than Rachel herself. 


	5. just another

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi you guys 1K reads!!!?? are you kidding me holy heck!!! thank u so much 🥺 i super super appreciate it and hope you all enjoy this update!!! also if you think i edited this during the reign dash half, you are absolutely correct 🤓 let’s hope our girls can hold it down for the last 2 minutes!!! also my very favorite author has added 2 new drabble updates since i last updated this so if you haven’t checked those out, you should!! til next time, dtfo 🧡

“Well, this generally doesn’t happen on the first date...” Rachel joked.

“Oh my god,” Kristie and Ali said at the exact same time, as Kristie scrambled to cover her body in a blanket.

She stole a quick look at Rachel and noticed the girl was in a white tee with jean shorts and a flannel tied around her waist. 

“I feel like maybe I should... go?” Ali said, looking around the room at anything but Kristie or Rachel.

“Yeah, so, I’m gonna go, have fun, you guys!” Ali said, returning to Ashlyn’s room while rolling her eyes. 

“I’m sorry if that joke was too forward,” Rachel said, backpedaling on her previous comment. 

“It’s fine; I didn’t believe you’d actually be here in ten,” Kristie smiled, already feeling more comfortable in the girl’s presence due to her contentiousness. 

As much as Kristie knew she was in this for the bet, she was starting to grow an affinity for spending time with Rachel. She’d really enjoyed talking to her during practice and still hadn’t really come to a conclusion about why Rachel’s touch had affected her the way it had on the field. Rachel’s voice startled Kristie, who hadn’t realized she‘d been thinking all these things whilst standing and staring.

“So? Are you gonna get dressed, or..?” Rachel asked, sitting down on Kristie’s bed.

“No, idiot, I’m just gonna wear this,” Kristie sassed back.

“Yes, I am getting dressed, what should I wear? Unless you’d rather eat here,” Kristie said.

“I‘d love to eat here,” Rachel muttered. 

“What?” Kristie squeaked, her cheeks turning pink at the insinuation. 

She then turned and slipped a summer dress over her head. 

“Nothing!” Rachel responded nervously. 

At that very moment, Kristie’s phone lit up on the bed with a message in a group chat, affectionately named, _best players in the world_ 🥇 with Mal and Lindsey. 

Rachel noticed the phone, and said “The “best players in the world” need you. That’s odd, I should be in that group.”

Kristie snapped her head toward the bed, yelling, “don’t read that!”

Rachel put her hands up as if to be arrested, saying, “Okay...?” 

Kristie was by the bed with her phone in her hands in no time. 

_sooo updates on the bet?_ Lindsey had written. 

_about to go on the date_ , Kristie replied.

_saucy_ , Mal sent. 

_shut the hell up_ , Kristie responded.

_“i’m not gay!”_ _she said_ , Lindsey sent. 

Rolling her eyes, Kristie closed her phone. 

“Okay, are we ready?” She asked Rachel, who had taken to looking at her own phone.

“Come on then,” Rachel said, leading the two out of the room. 

—

After Rachel led the duo to a cafe near Kristie’s hotel, they were seated. 

Kristie tried to remind herself that she was merely getting dinner with an acquaintance. She had to put the bet out of her mind, though the close call of Rachel seeing her phone had rattled her. 

Even being on the date with the shorter girl was spiking her nervousness. Before she could think any further, a waitress arrived, supplying the two with menus.

Across the table, Rachel scanned the menu, looking for the smallest meal she could find before settling on yogurt with granola. Not only was she nervous to be around Kristie, but she’d been receiving hateful comments on Instagram recently.

Rachel knew her body was almost entirely muscular, but non-athletes didn’t see it as such. She wasn’t traditionally thin, so why should she be posting, right? 

Kristie didn’t know what to do with Rachel’s silence, and remembered that the entire reason they were in the cafe was because of Rachel wanting to know why Kristie had been stalking through her Instagram. And Kristie had been stalking through her Instagram because of the bet. And the bet had started because Mal and Lindsey has convinced her that messing with Rachel would give them a better chance at winning the World Cup.  


The taller blonde’s mind swirled with thought of how she shouldn’t be doing this, but with the tournament on the line, she felt like she simply had to. She took a look at Rachel, who was studying the menu across the table. Kristie thought about how chiseled Rachel’s jaw looked, how her light hair framed her face perfectly, and how her eyebrows moved up and down as she scanned the menu. 

“You’re staring,” Rachel said, not looking up. 

Kristie immediately began looking anywhere but at Rachel as the shorter girl cracked a smile. 

_This is not a real date; you are not gay_ , Kristie reminded herself. 

“What are you going to eat?” The taller girl asked. 

“Erm, I think just some yogurt with granola. And you?” Rachel asked, trying to brush off that her order was so small. 

Kristie noticed it, but figured she was just not very hungry. 

“Um, I think fried rice,” Kristie answered nervously.

Somehow, picking a meal reinforced what a terrible idea all of this was for her. She had not been the type to create drama in years. Even Sydney Leroux had told Kristie she was proud of her for chilling out with her attitude, but what would Sydney say if she ever found out about this? Their waitress arrived and took the two girls’ orders when Rachel began to ask questions. 

“So, fess up, blondie,” Rachel said. 

Kristie raised an eyebrow, saying, “I am no more blonde than you are.”

“Do you deflect that well on the field too?” Rachel countered, smiling.

_Is this flirting?_ Kristie thought. 

“Maybe I do, I don’t know,” the taller girl replied, attempting to refuse Rachel’s flirty comment.

The waitress arrived with their drinks, interrupting the conversation, as Rachel began to say, “my Instagram. You were creeping on me at midnight!” 

At that moment, Kristie realized she probably should have thought of an excuse for having done that. She couldn’t very well say that she’d been betted to make Rachel fall in love with her? 

“I- um, I saw you... in the bar. That’s all,” Kristie said unconvincingly. 

“Oh, cut the shit, Mewis,” Rachel said. 

Kristie was shocked that her argument hadn’t worked.

“You could’ve just told me that on the field! But I’ll let it slide.. for now,” The shorter girl laughed. 

“Ha, sorry!” Kristie smiled, content that Rachel was just going with it.

_Now what? What the heck do I say?_ Kristie thought. 

“Erm, so, tell me about yourself, Mewis,” Rachel said, looking anywhere but at Kristie.

“I think you should tell me about yourself first,” Kristie responded, wanting to tell Rachel as little as possible. 

“What kind of sense does that make?” Rachel joked.

_It‘s just a bet; don’t actually get attached to her, evenas a friend_ , Kristie reminded herself. _But she’s so sweet and so funny and her eyes and the way she scrunches up her nose-_

When Kristie didn’t have a response, Rachel did as she was asked. 

“Right, so, I’m 27, I play for England, I’m from Harrogate, and apparently I have a killer Instagram that pretty girls search through. My best friend Millie is basically my soulmate and I get on great with my parents,” Rachel said, unsure of how much information to give.

“Millie’s the girl you were with at the bar,” Kristie said, as more of a statement than question, additionally dodging the comment about her being pretty.

“I could have sworn you were paying more attention to a guy across the bar than to us at our table, but I must have been mistaken,” Rachel smiled. 

Their food arrived quickly, and Kristie was beyond grateful to get out of the awkward conversation. 

“Is that really all you want?” Kristie asked, as Rachel was served the tiny portion of yogurt and granola. 

Rachel nodded, sending their waitress away. 

“Do you always eat such small portions? I would starve,” Kristie said, knowing she was overstepping.

Rachel contemplated how much to tell the taller girl, wishing she was closer to her.

“Yeah, but that’s not so important right now! Tell me about you,” Rachel smiled, stirring up the yogurt but not eating it. 

“I’m 28, I’m from Boston, I usually play mid, I’m on Breakers, and that’s pretty much it...” Kristie said.

“Wait, wait, Breakers? Like with-“ Rachel began, but stopped herself.

“With?” Kristie questioned.

“Nobody, it’s nothing. Nobody. Forget I said that,” Rachel tried. 

“Who, Rach?” Kristie said, using a nickname. 

“Christine,” Rachel answered, looking down and playing again with the yogurt.

“What about her?” Kristie asked, knowing that Christine had been with Rachel, but wanting to hear what Rachel had to say about her.

“We dated, she and I. Broke up just earlier, actually.” Rachel answers solemnly. 

“Oh my gosh, really? Why?” Kristie asked.

Rachel internally panicked, not wanting to tell Kristie what had happened. She was embarrassed that Christine didn’t want someone who wouldn’t put out, but Christine had also made comments about Rachel’s body similar to those made on Instagram. Rachel had always felt insecure around the girl and not safe enough to sleep with her. 

“Um, it just didn’t work out.” Rachel said, guarded. 

“Listen, I know we just met, but you can tell me. It’s okay; I’m not here to judge you.” Kristie said. 

She kept going back and forth between wanting to know Rachel better and wanting to do the least possible to get Rachel to fall for her before bailing to win the bet. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t ignore the draw the shorter girl had, and the more she listened, the more she wanted to hear of Rachel’s accent.

It almost bothered her to know that her very own teammate, Christine, knew Rachel so well. She’d heard that accent so many times, and for a split second, before stopping herself, Kristie felt jealous of Christine’s luck. 

“I wouldn’t sleep with her,” Rachel said, as Kristie choked on a bite of food.

Coughing, Kristie said, “what?” 

Rachel’s cheeks flushed scarlet as she repeated herself. 

Rachel changed the subject to soccer, and the two discussed their teams for a short period while Kristie ate.

“So, Christine. Why?” Kristie asked, confusedly. 

“Why what?” Rachel asked.

“Why didn’t you guys.. you know,” Kristie asked. 

“It’s kind of a long story,” Rachel said. 

“Another time?” Kristie questioned.

“Yeah, for sure.” Rachel said, as Kristie finished her food.

“Are you sure you’re not hungry?” The taller blonde asked, as she looked between her empty plate and Rachel’s nearly-full bowl of yogurt. 

“Yeah, no, I’m good! Let’s get out of here,” Rachel said. 

“What about the bill?” Kristie questioned. 

“It’s taken care of,” Rachel smiled.

“Wait, what?” She responded. 

“I called here before we came; it’s taken care of.” Rachel answered cheekily.

Kristie couldn’t believe how sweet Rachel was, and she tried to bury her guilt about the reason the date was even happening.

“That’s... that’s really sweet, Rachel. Thank you,” Kristie said, smiling as the two rose from the table. 

Leaving the restaurant, Kristie felt more comfortable with Rachel than she had before. On their walk back to Kristie’s hotel, the two made polite conversation and Rachel slipped her hand into Kristie’s. The taller girl didn’t let go of it, and thought about how it felt natural to her to hold Rachel’s hand. 

They arrived at Kristie’s hotel hand in hand, and as was Kristie’s luck, Mal and Lindsey were playing foosball in the lobby. She refused to look at them, but heard one of them whistle as Rachel insisted upon walking Kristie to her room. They boarded the elevator together and walked to room 312, neither certain on what to say. 

“I had a great time, Rach,” Kristie said. 

“Me too. Maybe we can do it again sometime? With or without the Instagram stalking.” The English player joked.

“You’re never letting that go, are you?” Kristie blushed.

“Oh, hell no,” Rachel laughed. 

Kristie wasn’t sure if Rachel was going to try to kiss her, and her nerves were skyrocketing. At that very moment, she realized she wouldn’t have been too upset if Rachel did kiss her. 

“I’ll see you, then, okay? Sometime soon?” Rachel asked nervously. 

“Yeah, sometime soon,” Kristie agreed, smiling. 

She let go of Rachel’s hand and pulled the shorter girl in for a hug, extremely uncharacteristically. Rachel seemed surprised, but gladly accepted the hug, pushing up on her tiptoes to get her arms to sit atop Kristie’s shoulders. She wondered how bad it would be if she kissed Kristie on the cheek for only a few milliseconds before doing it. 

Kristie took a tiny gasp as the spot where Rachel’s lips touched her cheek burned. The shorter girl stepped back and smiled, noticing that Kristie was blushing. 

“Sometime soon,” she said as she walked back down the hall toward the hotel lobby.


	6. count me in

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1.5K reads are you guys kidding me!!! thank you thank you thank you 🥺 i am so so happy you like this fic!!! this update is here because someone super special requested it & i adore her. 💛also i just want to say that if you have hate comments, keep that shit to yourself, i will delete it 🥰🧚🏻 thank u & remember y’all means all; dtfo tomz 🧡

Walking into the hotel room, Kristie was in an entirely different world. All she could think of was the kiss Rachel had left on her cheek and how she’d had a much better than expected time on the “date.” On autopilot, the blonde smiled as she sat down on her bed, taking off her shoes and beginning to prepare for bed. However, dread set in as she remembered that she hadn’t been on a _real_ date, and even more so, she couldn’t face the idea of being anything but straight. Kristie was interrupted by her thoughts when Ali sat down next to her on her bed. 

“Kris? Are you okay?” Ali asked carefully.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Kristie replied, “yeah, yeah. I’m good!” 

Ali looked at her questioningly. 

“You walked in here and didn’t even look at me and then you sat here and stared at the wall,” Ali explained. 

“What’s going on?” The brunette tried. 

“Ali,” Kristie began, picking up a pillow and burying her face in it. 

“Yeah?” 

“How did you know you were gay?” Kristie said, as quickly as she could. 

A small smile graced Ali’s face. 

“Rachel Daly, hm?” She laughed. 

“Well first of all,” Ali began, pulling the pillow from Kristie’s face, “it’s just us here. You don’t have to hide.”

Kristie returned to holding the pillow in her arms, but looked worriedly into Ali’s eyes. 

“Second of all, if you do feel that way toward Daly-“ Ali began as Kristie cut her off. 

“I never said-“ Kristie tried, but Ali then cut her off. 

“No, honey, stop. If you do, and I’m not saying you do, but if you do, it’s okay. This team will always support you. But, how did I know I liked girls? It was a pretty long while back. I think that, at some point, I realized it wasn’t that I wanted to be like the other girls around me.  
  
It was that I wanted to be with some of them. That feeling of envy when you see a beautiful girl was actually more of an attraction for me. But, to be honest with you, it didn’t happen until I met Ashlyn. With boys, we all grew up with pressures to like boys and I think that’s where a lot of first crushes develop. You might not even like boys, but all of your friends have crushes on boys so you better have one too, right?” Ali said.

Kristie merely nodded along.

“And then I met Ashlyn, and everything those friends had been saying about liking boys made sense, except I liked her; not a boy. I wanted to know her, know about her life and her dreams and just, well, everything, you know?” Ali said, as if she’d thought of this a million times over. 

“Whatcha thinkin’?” Ali tried when Kristie didn’t respond. 

“I think that I don’t know what to think,” the blonde replied. 

“Okay, that’s okay! How about this; we should get some sleep and think about it tomorrow, okay?” Ali said soothingly, touching Kristie’s arm. 

Kristie merely nodded as the two headed to bed. 

—

Inside the blonde’s head, waiting until tomorrow to think about Rachel was not working out too well. She was dreaming of the England player’s arms when Ali’s alarm awoke her. Kristie sat up in bed directly, staring over to Ali’s bed with wide eyes. Ali raised one eyebrow, as if to ask what had happened. 

“Nothing; totally nothing.” Kristie responded.

“Alrighty,” Ali smiled. 

Grabbing her phone, Kristie noticed that she had new messages in the group chat. 

_how was the hot date???_ Lindsey had sent. 

_km wake up and update us!!!_ Mal sent.

_are you guys at breakfast?_ Kristie replied.

Lindsey sent a photo of Mallory across the breakfast table in the lobby, which Kristie took as a yes. She got dressed and headed down there to update them, but couldn’t shake the feeling that all of this was wrong. 

“Good morning, sunshine!” Lindsey said as Kristie approached their table. 

“Soooo?” Mal said. 

“Sooo, what?” Kristie asked, smiling.

“She’s smiling; it went well!!” Mal said. 

“Is she completely in love with you?? We are totally winning the World Cup,” Lindsey said. 

“No! She’s totally not in love with me; it was one date and I don’t even like girls!” Kristie answered, rolling her eyes.

“That’s totally not how it looked last night when you were holding her hand and smiling from ear to ear, but, okay,” Lindsey said. 

“So what did you guys talk about?” Mal asked.

“Soccer, mostly. A little about ourselves, you know, the usual,” Kristie answered. 

“Well, that sounds good! I’m glad you’re gonna win the World Cup for us, Mewis,” Lindsey said.

”Did you have fun?” Mal asked.

”Yeah, it was... kinda nice?” Kristie answered. 

Internally, Kristie was freaking out a little. Should she tell them that she’d genuinely enjoyed spending time with Rachel? She decided that if this was going to keep going on, she’d better bury these thoughts deep down. She wouldn’t talk about how she felt with anyone; she couldn’t.  


The more she thought about it, the worse it got. The most important things to keep in mind were fucking Rachel to win the bet and in turn, winning the World Cup. And Kristie decided that that was exactly what she would do. 

A few days passed, and each team had travelled to play in their first game. Kristie had roomed with Emily Sonnett before the entire team returned to their original hotel. Kristie was back with Ali for at least a few more days before the next game, and they’d spent the last night discussing everything that had happened in game 1.  


Kristie awoke the next day in a sweat from another dream about Rachel. On that particular day, the USWNT were to use the entire field for the first half of the day while the Lionesses were to take it the second half. Without Rachel at practice, Kristie was able to pay better attention, but practice was over before she knew it.  


With no Lionesses in sight, Kristie opted to stay on the field for only a few more minutes, remembering her promise to focus on the game. She lobbed a few balls into the net a couple times before getting ready to head off as the England team began warming up. However, one key player was not on the field - Rachel. 

Kristie headed toward the locker room where she could see her teammates heading out to catch the shuttle back toward the hotel. Quickly, she checked the time and realized she’d been on the field much longer than planned.

“shit,“ she muttered under her breath as the team boarded the shuttle.   


She knew she could ask the driver to come back when she was ready, but felt hesitant. Kristie wondered if she would be able to walk back when she heard someone shuffle into the echoey locker room.

“Beth? Millie?” The English voice said, calling out into the room. 

Kristie knew it had to be Rachel, and her suspicion was confirmed when she saw the shorter girl peer over the room. Rachel had climbed on the bench between the lockers to see if anyone was there, and Kristie couldn’t help but think it was cute. 

“Mewis?” Rachel asked, locking eyes with the American. 


	7. i need you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi y’all nearly 2K reads no way no way!!! thank you so much 🥺 i hope you guys enjoy this chapter, it’s a little bit... cute? and my very favorite person has been requesting an update so here we are 💛 i hope that you are all staying safe!!! dtfo 🧡

“Hi. Feeling short?” Kristie said, smirking. 

“Shut up,” the blonde replied, hopping down from the bench and walking toward the set of lockers Kristie was near. 

“Just saying!” Kristie laughed, pulling off her practice shirt.

“Yeah, yeah, make fun of my height. What are ya even doing here? Your team’s leaving, I think you could still catch ‘em, they’re-“ Rachel began to say until she realized Kristie’s shirt was off. 

Kristie smirked, knowing she was being checked out, and liking it a little more than she should have. She couldn’t deny that the air felt a little heavier around her as soon as Rachel came into her space. The locker room was entirely empty, except for the two of them.

“I wanted more practice so that I can beat your ass in this cup. And, it looks like it’ll be easy since you’re late for your practice,” Kristie said, as they both continued to gather their things; Kristie taking stuff from her locker while Rachel put things in hers. 

“Wasn’t feeling well,” Rachel responded. 

“So then why are you here?” Kristie said, not masking her irritation with the blonde for coming near her while ill. 

“My team needs me,” Rachel reasoned. 

“Yeah, okay,” Kristie chortled, following up with, “they definitely need you to get them sick.” 

“I felt a bit dizzy; they can’t catch that from me,” Rachel said, climbing up on the second bench of the day. 

“Your bus is leaving, Kristie, what are you gonna-“ Rachel began to say until she lost her balance. 

Inside of milliseconds, Kristie was right underneath her, and Rachel landed perfectly into the taller girl’s arms. Their faces were mere inches away from each other and neither dared to move. 

“Yep, nope, you’re not practicing,” Kristie declared, snapping out of it, but not putting Rachel down. 

“What the fuck do you mean? Yes I am,” Rachel said as her stomach stirred while she thought of how Kristie’s arms felt around her. 

“Rachel,” Kristie warned, still not putting the blonde down. 

Rachel couldn’t stop herself from noticing that Kristie’s nipples were hard underneath the thin sports bra. Their faces were so close and Rachel could feel Kristie’s breath on her. 

“How do you feel?” Kristie asked, but the question fell upon deaf ears.

Rachel was intoxicated by Kristie’s scent and loved that the girl was strong enough to hold her. She couldn’t stop thinking about how Kristie had been stalking through her Instagram at midnight. Still in her arms, Rachel felt Kristie’s face inching impossibly closer to hers. 

“Rachel?” The taller girl asked, as Rachel reached up and moved a strand of hair behind Kristie’s ear. 

“Rach,” Kristie asserted, as Rachel was pulled from her thoughts. 

“Hm? What?” She asked, realizing she was still being held. 

“Okay, listen. I’m going to go tell your coach that you aren’t practicing. I’ll take you back to your hotel and get you to bed, and then go back to my place, alright?” Kristie asked. 

Rachel tried to wriggle out of Kristie’s grasp, as Kristie muttered, “no, stop it,” and squeezed the shorter girl’s side to keep her in her arms.

Unexpectedly, Kristie watched the girl’s abs contract as a grin flashed across Rachel’s face. She let out a tiny giggle then tried to mask it with a cough. 

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were ticklish,” Kristie said smirking, though wondering if she’d accidentally crossed a line. She thought Rachel’s reaction was adorable. Rachel was blushing hard, and Kristie felt like there was a tension between the two, but tried to bury it, wiping the smirk back off of her face.

“M’not ticklish,” Rachel defended. 

“Yeah, okay,” Kristie rolled her eyes. 

“So what do you say? Let’s go get you feeling better, hm?” Kristie suggested. 

“Fine, fine,” Rachel said. 

Kristie walked back onto the field and explained the situation before she called an Uber and the two headed back to Rachel’s hotel. In the car, Kristie took Rachel’s hand in hers, but the shorter girl barely reacted. Walking into the lobby, Kristie could tell Rachel truly wasn’t feeling well. 

“Mewis,” Rachel began, as they headed toward her room, still hand in hand. 

She gave the key card to Kristie and the taller girl opened the door. 

“Yeah?” Kristie said, walking the two of them inside.

“M’really not feeling so well,” Rachel said weakly. 

“Okay, okay, let’s get you some water,” Kristie said, searching the room for anything that might help. 

Rachel laid down on the bed as Kristie finally found a bottle of water. As Kristie brought it over to Rachel, the shorter girl pointed to her bag, saying “the smallest pocket.” 

Kristie turned toward the bag and opened it quickly to find an array of hard candies. Confused, she grabbed one and took it back to Rachel who had nearly finished the water bottle. 

“Thank you,” Rachel said as she took it from Kristie’s hand. 

“How are you feeling?” The American nervously asked. 

“A bit better now, thank you,” Rachel said.

“Okay, good. Do you, um.. should- should I go? Or...?” Kristie hesitantly asked. 

“Would you- erm, could you... stay? In case I feel faint again,” Rachel asked quietly. 

“Yeah, yeah, absolutely,” Kristie answered. 

“We could put on a movie?” Rachel suggested quickly, patting the space next to her on the bed.

“Yeah, or we could discuss what just happened,” Kristie said pointedly, as she climbed into the bed with the shorter girl.

When Rachel said nothing, Kristie pressed the issue. 

“Rach, why were you so dizzy and faint?” She asked.

“Dunno, it’s nothing,” Rachel responded too quickly.

“It’s not nothing; how can you play at such a high level like this? Did you- oh my gosh. You’re not eating, are you? You didn’t eat when we went out.” Kristie put together. 

No response was the only response Kristie needed. 

“Rach,” she said slowly.

“Look at me,” the taller girl said. 

Rachel looked over toward Kristie and the look on her face just about broke Kristie’s heart. She looked so small, so fragile. How could Kristie go forward with this bet when she knew that hurting Rachel would produce the look Rachel currently had on her face? She needed to call the bet off; she had to end it. Nothing in this world could make her okay with hurting the girl in front of her. 

“Are you going to yell?” Rachel asked, and Kristie softened impossibly more. 

“No, no, come here,” Kristie said, as she pulled Rachel into her lap. 

Rachel noticed how close they were, and so did Kristie, but neither questioned it at that moment. Kristie leaned back against the pillows and headboard of the bed and pushed her legs outward so that Rachel’s back was to her chest. It was exactly as if Kristie was spooning her, except that the two were sitting up. The taller girl began to play with Rachel’s hair, lightly massaging her head. 

“Tell me what’s going on in here,” Kristie said, brushing through Rachel’s hair with her fingers. 

“When I was with Christine, she would make comments about my body,” Rachel answered. 

“What the fuck? Why?” Kristie said a little too defensively. 

“She’d been with thinner girls,” Rachel said quietly. 

“So fucking what? Why would anyone say that to you?” Kristie said, getting louder as she got angrier. 

“It’s okay, Mewis, it’s really fine. Don’t worry about it,” Rachel argued.

“I’m way past worried about it; I was at worried about it when you ate three bites of yogurt,” Kristie said. 

“It’s really nothing,” Rachel insisted.

“It’s not nothing, Rach, listen, you are beautiful. Your body is beautiful. It’s so strong; you use it for your career. It’s taken you so many places, but it can’t keep doing that for you if you don’t help it,” Kristie said. 

“I know,” Rachel said.

“Mewis?” Rachel said after a pause.

“Yeah?” Kristie answered. 

“I like spending time with you,” she said in a small voice.

Kristie’s heart ached as she whispered, “I like spending time with you too,” and placed a kiss on the top of Rachel’s head.


	8. are you even real

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi you guys!!! nearly 2.5K, am i dreaming?? that’s insane!! thank u so much for the reads and comments and kudos and literally everything 🥺 also my favorite author wrote a new drabble yesterday if you’d like to login & check it out! in addition can you guys believe the dash are on to the semi finals?!! i am so so excited; dtfo🧡

Later that evening, Kristie ordered the duo room service, and they continued to cuddle in bed. After playing a few minutes of a movie, Kristie realized that neither of them were actually paying attention to it. They merely kept glancing at each other, not wanting to watch the screen.

“Why are you looking at me?” Kristie smiled, trying to get Rachel to admit she’d been sneaking glances at her.

“How long do you have?” Rachel smiled back. 

Looking down at an imaginary watch, Kristie said, “I think I have some time.”

“Alright. Have you seen yourself? I mean, really. Truly. Have you looked at you?” Rachel asked.

“Yeah..?” Kristie answered hesitantly. 

“You’re fucking beautiful. Your eyes, your hair, your lips, your skin, your body, everything about you. And, you’re caring. You give a shit about me and how I am. You’re good. That’s why I’m looking at you. I’d be a fucking idiot to not be looking at you when I have the chance to,” Rachel answered. 

Kristie didn’t realize her mouth was hanging open until Rachel leaned closer to her, using two fingers to push the taller girl’s chin back up. More attracted to anyone than she’d ever been, Kristie wanted so badly to lean down and kiss Rachel. From the way Rachel’s eyes moved between Kristie’s eyes and lips, the American guessed that she wanted the same. 

“Kristie,” Rachel whispered, using her first name for the very first time, as their noses became close enough to touch.

Hearing Rachel say her name that way made the butterflies in Kristie’s tummy flit around like crazy. 

“Rachel,” Kristie whispered back, nervous to say the least.

“Kiss me,” was all it took for Kristie to push forward, kissing the shorter girl and entangling Rachel’s hair between her fingers. 

The feeling of Rachel’s lips on hers was unlike anything the taller girl had ever felt. Kissing Rachel was nothing like how kissing her ex boyfriend was, and Kristie knew immediately that this was what she wanted. Their lips parted after connecting, and Kristie opened her eyes to meet Rachel’s, and without having to look any lower, Kristie could tell that Rachel was smiling.

Taking the lead, Rachel connected their lips once again, pushed Kristie backwards on the bed in order to be on top. The American refused her access when Racheltried to push her tongue into Kristie’s mouth, as Kristie wanted the upper hand. 

Moving one hand down to Kristie’s side, Rachel squeezed dangerously close to Kristie’s ass, making the taller girl surprisedly moan, and thus, opening her mouth, giving Rachel access.Their tongues wrestled for a while longer, until both were breathless.

“That was-“ Rachel whispered, playing with Kristie’s hair.

“I don’t know how to put it into words,” Kristie said, staring up at the shorter girl.

“How about really fucking good?” Rachel giggled. 

Smiling, Kristie noticed the time on the alarm clock behind Rachel and realized she needed to get back to her own hotel. 

“Again? Soon?” She merely said as she checked to see if she’d brought anything with her. 

Rachel nodded and got up from the bed to walk Kristie to the door, as they said their goodbyes. 

The taller girl wasn’t sure if they should kiss again when she left, so she nervously shuffled out of the room and began down the hallway before she heard, “Kristie Mewis, get your bum back here.”

She turned around and walked back toward Rachel, who was smiling in the doorway. 

“Come here,” Rachel said, pushing Kristie up against the door and kissing her one more time. 

When they broke away from the kiss, Kristie looked down at Rachel and smiled, pulling her in for a hug. 

“You’re stunning, don’t forget that,” the taller girl mumbled into Rachel’s ear, then kissed her cheek before turning to leave. 

Kristie slipped out, returning to her hotel, before Rachel’s English teammates even realized she’d been there.  


—

A few days later, England went off to Le Havre to play Argentina while the USWNT prepared to face Chile in Paris. Rachel had been texting the taller girl as much as she could during each day, getting to know Kristie better, as Kristie did the same.

Kristie hadn’t had a chance to speak to Mal and Lindsey yet, having been practicing soccer diligently for days. She knew it would come up again soon enough, and was dreading discussing the bet after she saw Rachel in such a fragile state.

“How many days are we going to be there? Do you know?” Kristie asked as she folded clothes to put in her overnight bag. 

“Also, could you flip on the TV? England should be playing,” Kristie asked. 

Ali smiled and turned the TV.

“Probably like 3? I’m guessing? Why; do you have a hot date or something? Perhaps with a certain blonde?” Ali asked, smiling toward Kristie on the other side of their hotel room.

Kristie scoffed, “Me? I mean..”

”You mean....?” Ali questioned.   
  
“I mean, we might have kissed a little. A lot, maybe. It was kind of amazing?” Kristie said, becoming red. 

She then turned toward the TV and smiled as Rachel lit up the screen. Kristie even thought Ali hadn’t noticed her put a short bit casual black dress into her bag. 

Before Ali could comment, the hotel door swung open to reveal Lindsey and Mallory. 

“How did you guys get in here?” Kristie asked. 

“Every key opens every door.” Mal answered, holding up a key. 

“No shit,” Ali said incredulously. 

“Ugh, does this mean you guys are going to show up and bother me all the time?” Kristie asked. 

“Probably! And definitely if you keep avoiding updating us on the bet!” Lindsey said.

“Bet? What bet?” Ali asked. 

“Linds and I bet Kristie that she could make Rachel Daly from the Lionesses fall in love with her, as if Kris could ever be gay. Anyway, then Kristie is gonna break her heart so that we can win the World Cup.” Mal said simply, as if this was common knowledge. 

“You- you... what?” Ali said slowly, no longer folding clothes.

“Kristie?” The brunette asked. 

Kristie looked up and guiltily met Ali’s glance. 

“Unbelievable,” Ali said, leaving the room, and likely headed for Ash’s room. 

“Guys! We can’t just go telling everyone about this; are you nuts?! Ali is never going to speak to me now,” Kristie said irritably, as she, too, dropped the clothes she was folding haphazardly onto her bed.

“Sorry, sorry, I figured you would have told her,” Mal responded in defense. 

“I need to go talk to her,” Kristie said, even more stressed as she headed for the door.

“Nope, not until we hear what happened after practice,” Lindsey said, stopping her.

Kristie took a deep breath, then said, “I don’t want to be part of the bet, you guys.” 

“What?!” Lindsey and Mal answered in unison.

“You heard me. I want out. I like Rachel. I don’t want her hurt.” Kristie said.

“How are we supposed to win if you don’t do this?!” Mal argued. 

“With our skill?” Kristie sarcastically asked. 

“Wait, wait. What do you mean you like her?” Lindsey interjected. 

“Kristie, you have to keep doing it. You have to. What are you going to do? Go run to Rachel and tell her you like her?” Mal asked angrily. 

Kristie had no response, feeling both angry, targeted, and frustrated. She felt her eyes filling with water and she refused to let tears fall. 

“We need this. If we are gonna win the World Cup, we need her to become sad and being their team down. We need you to break her heart. If you don’t keep the bet up, I’ll go over there right now and tell her about it. She’ll know you were faking all along. But, if you keep it up, and you eventually do somehow get her to fall for you, I’ll make sure she never finds out.” Lindsey bargained. 

“This is so not like you; who are you?!” Kristie asked loudly, as she began to cry.

“I want us to win.” Lindsey replied.

“So what will it be? You keep it up and she eventually becomes yours, or I go and tell her right now?” Lindsey asked.

“Fine. Fine! I’ll keep it up. She can’t ever find out, do you hear me?” Kristie asked, tears still running down her face. 

Lindsey looked to Mal and the two nodded to Kristie before leaving her room. Quickly, Kristie gathered herself and ran to Ashlyn’s room, banging on the door. 

“Ash? Please, I need to talk to Ali,” she yelled through the door. 

The door cracked open only an inch or two, and Ashlyn was met with Kristie’s tearful eyes across the threshold. 

“She doesn’t want to talk to you,” Ashlyn said quietly. 

“I’m sorry, Kris,” the older girl said. 

“Please, Ashlyn, I have to speak to her. This is all a misunderstanding.” Kristie argued.

“What, Kristie? That you’re stringing Rachel along?! I believed Syd when she told me you’d changed. You don’t hurt a girl like this and for fuck’s sake, you’re not even gay,” Ali yelled from behind Ashlyn.

“Ali, I-“ Kristie began until Ashlyn shushed her. 

“She needs time. But this is not cool, Kristie. I hope you have a good explanation for this. We’ll see you tomorrow on the bus.” Ashlyn said before closing the door. 

Still tearful, Kristie silently walked back to her room. After opening the door, the blonde moved a chair in front of the door, ensuring her some privacy from Mal and Lindsey, since they could open the door. She began to cry again until it set in in Kristie’s head that Ali could tell Rachel the truth, and she didn’t know how to stop it from happening. 

Sitting down on the bed, she realized the England match was over, and checked her phone to see if they’d won. Luckily, they had, so Kristie sent a _congratulations on the win_ 💛 to Rachel.  


The shorter girl responded almost instantly, saying _thank u, miss you_ 💛

Kristie figured that the only way to know if Ali has contacted her would be to keep Rachel talking to her and see if any red flags appeared. 

_wish you were here_ , Kristie sent, along with a photo of herself cuddled into the comforter in her bed. 

The taller girl flinched as the phone rang, panic instantly flowing through her veins. She picked it up, as Rachel’s name flashed across the small screen.

“Rach?” She asked. 

“Hi to you too,” the English girl laughed.

“Oh, sorry, hi,” Kristie said, mentally noting that Rachel didn’t seem upset. 

“You okay, Mewis? You looked a bit red in your photo so I wanted to check,” Rachel said, sounding adorably concerned. 

“Me? Yeah, yeah I’m good. I’m fine.” Kristie covered. 

“Alright, if you say so. But listen, you’re off to Paris tomorrow, yeah?” Rachel asked. 

“Yeah, we’re playing Chile the day after next. Why?” Kristie answered. 

“Have you ever been there before?” Rachel asked, and Kristie could hear the smile in her voice.

“I haven’t,” Kristie said. 

“Listen, this might come off a bit forward because it is, but I want to show you ‘round the city tomorrow. A date, if you would,” Rachel explained.

“Oh, uh,” Kristie stammered, not knowing what the right way to respond was.

“You’re in Le Havre though,” she finally said. 

“They have trains,” Rachel shot back.

“If you don’t want to-“ Rachel began until she was cut off. 

“I do! I do; I mean, I want to. Let’s do it,” Kristie said, smiling. 

“Alright, so I’ll pick you up tomorrow after your morning practice?” Rachel asked.

“Wait, how did you know I had morning practice?” Kristie asked.

“No need to worry about that, darling,” Rachel smiled.

“See you at 1, okay?” The shorter girl asked.

“Okay, see you then!” Kristie answered as the call finished. 

Conflicted, Kristie didn’t know if she wanted to go down to have dinner with the team. She decided to order herself pity pizza and call it a night. Kristie sat in bed watching Netflix, with no idea that, down at dinner, Ali was talking to Lindsey and Mal about the bet situation. Kristie startled when a knock came on the door, but she picked up and opened it to reveal Ali on the other side. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just realized you guys haven’t been in the loop about how every chapter title is a song so here’s a list in case you wanna be inside my head haha
> 
> 1\. bad idea - ariana grande  
> 2\. midnight memories - 1d  
> 3\. drive - oh wonder  
> 4\. no judgement - niall  
> 5\. just another - pete yorn  
> 6\. count me in - early winters  
> 7\. i need you - m83  
> 8\. are you even real? - james blake
> 
> okay thanks for coming to my ted talk, see y’all next week! 🧡


	9. cough syrup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi you guys!!! thank you so much for 3K reads; i am honestly so shocked that so many people have read this 🥺 thank you to those who take time to comment and leave kudos and literally everything also, i am so appreciative!! AND our dash are going to the final; can you believe it!!! i hope you all enjoy this chapter! & dtfo 🧡
> 
> • this chapter’s title song: cough syrup - young the giant

“Ali,” Kristie began, grateful but nervous that it was her roommate in the threshold of the room.

“Come here,” Ali said, extending her arms to hug Kristie.

”Wait, you don’t hate me?” Kristie asked. 

“I spoke to Lindsey and Mal during dinner. Let’s talk,” Ali mumbled into the blonde’s hair, leading the two to sit on Kristie’s bed. 

“I’m not a heartless bitch,” Kristie said quickly. 

“Maybe not heartless, but I think you might be a confused bitch,” Ali said. 

“Ali, I get why you were angry when you heard and I can explain,” Kristie said. 

“No need. Seriously, it’s fine. I think I already know what’s going on.” Ali said.

“You do?” Kristie questioned. 

“Well, yeah. First, Lindsey and Mal told me about it at dinner and second, honestly, it’s kind of hard to miss. You got yourself into a stupid, and I mean really fucking stupid situation, with Mal and Lindsey, and now instead of just playing Rachel, you’re playing both of you because you’re actually falling for her.” Ali said. 

After a beat of silence, Kristie finally whispered, “I know.” 

“Wait, really?” Ali asked, continuing with, “I mean I know I’m right but I didn’t think you’d agree,” she said. 

“I like her. I like her a lot and whenever I’m with her, I just.. shes so sweet and she makes me laugh and I feel like I don’t have to have such a huge wall up with her. I don’t have to be a bitch to her because I know she won’t hurt me,” Kristie said. 

“But this bet thing.. this can’t end well. Did you try to talk to Lindsey and Mal about it?” Ali tried.

“Yeah, and Lindsey said that if I backed out, she’d tell Rachel herself. But, if I do complete the bet, she said Rach will never know,” Kristie responded, looking downward. 

“This is such bullshit,” Ali started.

“What if you just came clean to Rachel before it gets any deeper and maybe she’d be understanding?” Ali suggested, trying to comfort the blonde with options. 

“But what if she wasn’t understanding? What if she tells her whole team about it and then our team finds out and everybody hates me? We’ll for sure lose the World Cup then,” Kristie argued, unsure of what the real answer was. 

“Do you think she’d do that?” Ali questioned. 

“No? Maybe? I don’t know; I don’t really know her that well but she’s been really open and honest with me about some deep shit and I don’t want to fuck it up now. And besides, we’re going to Paris for the day, like, tomorrow. She has this grand date set up. I can’t ruin that!” The blonde rambled. 

“Whoa, whoa, date in Paris? Damn, she really is into you,” Ali teased.

“Ali!” Kristie whined.

Laughing, Ali shrugged her shoulders.

“It’s fine; it’s gonna be fine. Look, I think you should talk to her about it, but if you think it’s better to just do it and hope she never knows, that’s up to you, babe,” Ali said. 

“For now, I think we should get some sleep. Do you know who you’re rooming with in Paris?” The brunette asked, moving to her bed.

“I have no idea, but I think Rach might be getting a hotel room?” Kristie said, as Ali got under her covers. 

She wasn’t under for too long, though, as she sprang back up and looked at Kristie with wide eyes. 

“Hold on! Are you going to sleep with her tomorrow?” The brunette yelled excitedly.

“Erm- I, uh-“ Kristie stammered, blushing.

“Oh my god! Holy shit!! Kristie, holy shit!” Ali exclaimed. 

“You’ve definitely never slept with a girl before, are you nervous? Unless- wait, have you already slept with her?!” Ali questioned.

“I never said we were sleeping together tomorrow! And no, not quite,” Kristie argued. 

“But you didn’t not say that! What do you mean _not quite_??” Ali picked.

“Goodnight, Ali,” Kristie said in a singsong voice as she turned over and turned off the light in the room. 

Checking her phone one last time, Kristie found a message from Rachel. 

_goodnight, see you in the morning x_ , it read.

Kristie smiled, replying, _see you soon_ 💛

“I could give you advice,” Ali started, but was cut off.

“No! Nope! Absolutely not; please keep whatever happens with you and Ash between you, I do NOT want to think about that,” Kristie said. 

“Remember, you have to work her up before you-“ 

“AAAAAH NO STOP!” Kristie yelled, laughing along with Ali.

—

Daylight had not yet shone through the windows of Ali and Kristie’s hotel room as their alarm went off. Wiping sleep from her eyes, Kristie looked over to see Ali doing the same. 

“Are you ready for your big day?” The brunette smiled.

“Oh, shut up,” Kristie smiled. 

The two got ready for the day and boarded the bus with their overnight bags, separating to be with other teammates. Kristie sat next to Sam, realizing she’d hardly spent any time with her sister so far during the tournament.  


Sam was deep in conversation with Emily, and barely even realized Kristie was there. Once their conversation broke, Sam turned to Kristie and Emily put her earbuds in.

“Kris, what’s going on with you and Rachel Daly?” Sam pointedly asked.

“Um... what?” Kristie asked, as she became pale. 

_ Could Sam have possibly known?  _

“I saw you guys on the pitch the other day. Are you friends? I never knew you knew her and I love English tea and she’s English if you’re friends with her then maybe I can ask her to show me how to make it and-“ Sam rambled, before Kristie cut her off.

“Yeah, Sammy, we’re friends. I’m sure she’d be happy to help out with your tea dilemma,” Kristie laughed, rolling her eyes while internally breathing a sigh of relief. 

“Oh, thank God!” Sam said. 

The rest of the trip to Paris and their first practice went along uneventfully, and before Kristie knew it, she was in one of her favorite outfits, awaiting Rachel’s arrival outside her hotel. However, she wasn’t alone.

After getting to the hotel, Kristie found herself sharing a room with none other than Sam, who insisted on coming outside with Kristie, but only to meet Rachel. 

“So like, what is this?” Sam asked.

“Huh?” Kristie questioned. 

“You and Rachel Daly. Like.. are you going on a date? It’s okay if it is a date though, like, that’s totally cool, I just wanna know since you’re my sister and all, but like, how do you even know her? You and Rachel Daly. So random.” Sam said quickly. 

Kristie drew in a quick breath, knowing that Sam had just reassured her that it was okay.

“Don’t tell Mom and Dad,” Kristie began.

Sam’s eyes widened, as she said, “You’re kidding,”


	10. peace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi you guys!!! what a huge week; the 10 year anniversary of one direction, taylor swift drops a whole ass album (bitch whaaaat?? peep the chapter title), and now our very own dash are the challenge cup champions 🥺 i literally could not be prouder!!! also thank you guys for all of your kind comments and i absolutely can’t believe we are at 3.5K reads??!?! 🤯 thank you so much y’all and dtfo 🧡

Still looking a bit shocked, Sam said, “I knew it!”

Kristie looked around, trying to find a way out of the situation. 

“Oh my god, so she’s on England and you’re with the US, and this is rich, Kristie, oh my god,” Sam continued. 

“Whatever, it’s not a big deal,” Kristie said.

It was totally a big deal. 

The USWNT’s hotel was near the Louvre, and Kristie couldn’t stop thinking of how excited she was to see more of the city with Rachel than she could see from her hotel room window. Just a few moments later, the short English blonde in questionarrived by foot in front of the two.

“M’sorry, my Uber dropped me off a few blocks back,” she explained, to both of the girls.

Sam stared back at Rachel, her mouth agape, as if she was looking directly at a living legend. 

“Sammy, you know you’ve played against Rachel before. You don’t have to act like you’re meeting the queen,” Kristie joked.

“I may be English, but I’m nobody’s queen... yet,” Rachel smiled, pulling Sam in for a hug. 

“I mean, I know we’ve met, but you’re just like such a great player and now you’re here dating my sister! I mean, are you sure you want her? Have you ever played board games with her? You know she’s aggressive, right?” Sam rambled as Rachel laughed. 

“Can’t say I have, but she’s been pretty sweet to me so far,” the shorter girl replied. 

“Sammy had something to ask you,” Kristie interjected.

“Oh, you did?” Rachel asked.

“I did?” Sam asked, entirely forgetting about her tea in her state of starstruck wonder. 

“Your tea, dumbass,” Kristie rolled her eyes.

“Oh my goodness. Rachel, can you teach me about English tea? I want to make one myself and I don’t know how. I hope it’s not rude to ask you just because you’re English,” Sam said.

“S’not a problem at all; I’d love to show ya sometime,” Rachel smiled. 

“Really?! Okay. Okay! Oh my gosh, I am SO excited!” Sam exclaimed. 

“Alright, gentle giant, we need to get on our way. Date and all, remember?” Kristie said to Sam.

“Right! Right, yeah, you guys go and have fun! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” She said, as the duo began to walk away.

Kristie turned around with her eyebrows raised, questioning Sam’s statement. 

“Actually, on second thought, do a lot of things I wouldn’t do! Bye!!” Sam yelled.

“Hi,” Rachel said nervously, as they walked down the cobblestone street.

“Hi,” Kristie said, smiling. 

“You look great,” the shorter girl said, stopping to take in Kristie’s outfit. 

“So do you,” the taller girl responded, stepping into Rachel’s space.

Kristie ran her fingers through Rachel’s hair then lifted the girl’s chin upwards as Rachel smiled. Cupping her cheek, Kristie leaned forward and kissed the shorter girl. 

“I could get used to that,” Kristie mumbled.

Pulling back, Rachel hesitantly took Kristie’s hand in hers as they continued to walk. 

“I have everything planned, if that’s alright with you?” Rachel asked. 

“Lead the way,” Kristie smiled. 

Rachel took the duo through parts of the Louvre, and they eventually stopped at a small bakery closer to the Notre Dame Cathedral.

“What’re you going to have?” Rachel asked the American from across the table.

“I’m not sure yet! What about you, Rach?” Kristie said, peering through the menu.

“Nothing,” Rachel mumbled. 

“Rachel, what?” Kristie asked, knowing what she was up against.

“M’not really hungry,” Rachel answered, not even looking at the sweets in the case.

“But, it smells so good in here! Doesn’t it just smell so amazing? Doesn’t it make you want something to snack on?”Kristie egged on. 

When Rachel didn’t respond, Kristie placed her hand on top of the other girl’s which was laying on the table.

“Rachie, look at me,” Kristie said.

“Your body is beautiful and you are beautiful. I mean, look at you! But, if you don’t eat anything, how are you going to have energy to walk through the rest of this beautiful city with me? Am I going to have to carry you around?” Kristie tried to lighten the mood surrounding the situation. 

Rachel didn’t know how to respond.

“Think of that fresh bread they’re baking right now; wouldn’t you love to taste it?” She continued. 

“Mhm,” the shorter girl mumbled.

“Okay, then let’s order you something, honey!” Kristie said, before realizing what had come out of her mouth.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry,” the taller girl said. 

“S’alright,” Rachel smiled while a blush crossed her cheeks. 

Finally, Kristie got Rachel to tell her what she wanted to eat, and the American ordered their food in French. 

“Rach, I’m glad you’re having something to eat,” Kristie said seriously. 

“Yeah, yeah, I suppose. But, enough on that. I love your sister, she’s a riot,” Rachel smiled. 

“She’s... a talker,” Kristie replied, laughing.

“And you, Mewis? Are you a talker?” Rachel asked. 

“Depends who I’m with,” the taller girl smiled, as their food arrived. 

“With me?” Rachel daringly asked. 

Before Kristie could answer, the girls’ food arrived at their table. 

“Rach, can I ask you something?” The taller girl asked, as she began to eat.

Rachel merely nodded as she looked down at the plate in front of her.

“When is the last time you had a meal? A real meal, I mean. Not a snack or candy,” Kristie asked.

“Few days ago,” Rachel mumbled.

Kristie’s fork clattered against her plate and Rachel recoiled very slightly.

“What do you mean a few days ago?” Kristie asked calmly.

“When we last ate together,” Rachel replied lamely.

Reaching out her hand to touch Rachel’s on the table again, Kristie looked up at the girl’s eyes. She noticed how guarded Rachel seemed in this moment, and how different she was than at the start of the date. 

“Hey, listen, I’m not mad. I’m worried about you, okay? When we first talked about this, you asked me not to yell at you. Why was that?” Kristie asked.

“Some people in my past would just get so mad at me for anything and everything,” Rachel replied.

“Rach, I just want to say that I would never be mad at you. Nobody who cares for you would ever act that way,” Kristie reassured.

“Are you saying you care for me?” Rachel smiled slightly.

“That’s all you got from that?” Kristie questioned, playfully.

Shrugging, Rachel turned her gaze back to her food.

“Please eat what you can eat, okay? No pressure, please just try for me. A little is better than nothing. And yes, I care for you. Of course I do,” Kristie smiled, as they returned to eating. 

On the table, next to Kristie’s plate, her phone lit up with a text from her group chat with Mal and Lindsey. 

_how’s the bet — oops, i mean date — going, kris?_ Mal had sent. 

Lindsey sent a photo of herself with the $100 bill that read, “Kristie’s Bet Money,” across it. 

Struggling to get to the message before Rachel saw them on the screen, Kristie flipped the phone over quickly and too loudly to go unnoticed. Rachel’s cocked eyebrow relayed that she knew something was weird, but she didn’t say a word.

“It’s nothing,” Kristie tried.

It, again, occurred to Kristie just how bad it would be if Rachel found out about the bet. How, the more she learned about the blonde girl across from her, the worse she felt about what she was doing. She had to make sure Rachel never found out, but there was one part she could never erase, and that was the fact that Kristie, herself, knew that she had come into this inorganically. That all of this, meeting Rachel, getting her to fall for Kristie, even kissing the shorter girl; none of it had just happened by chance.  


Guilt stirred low in Kristie’s gut. Even if she got away with it, how long would she be able to keep it from Rachel? Would she constantly worry about accidentally blurting it out? Would she be able to carry a real relationship with Rachel when she knew the truth and Rachel didn’t?   
  
“Really, it’s nothing,” Kristie assured again when she heard Rachel take a deep breath.

”Okay,” Rachel said, not wanting to press the taller girl.  


However, no matter how hard she tried to bury it, Rachel knew all too well the familiar feeling of doubt beginning to swirl in her stomach. 


	11. paris in the rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi y’all!!! i absolutely did not intend to post this today but then i wrote a 2.3K word chapter for the next update and the amount of reads just keeps growing (4.1K reads, are you kidding me??!?! 🤯 thank you guys so much 🥺) so here is chapter 11! i hope you all enjoy it and buckle up for the chapter after this one! also as the story continues, please remember that it’s rated m! remember that y’all means all and dtfo 🧡
> 
> chapter title song: paris in the rain - lauv

After both girls had eaten, and Kristie felt satisfied with Rachel’s food intake, they left the cafe and headed toward the Eiffel Tower, which was still a decent walk away.

“I’m proud of you, you know,” Kristie mentioned as she took Rachel’s hand in hers on their journey.

“Me? What have I done? Nothing at all,” Rachel questioned, trying to bury her worry surrounding Kristie’s phone at lunch.

“You ate lunch. Might not seem like a lot to you, but it’s important to me.” Kristie smiled. 

The day continued on as they asked each other questions through the streets of Paris. The more Kristie learned about the shorter girl, the more intrigued she became.

“As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?” Kristie’d asked. 

“Probably an astronaut,” Rachel laughed. 

“So, not a soccer player? It’s okay, Rach, there’s still time for your dream to come true,” Kristie giggled.

Rachel smiled, and playfully swatted at Kristie. 

“How was it growing up with a sister so close to you age?” Rachel asked. 

“Competitive, but rest assured, I am much cooler than Sammy,” the taller girl assured. 

“Alright, alright, sure,” Rachel smirked, knowing it would get a rise out of Kristie. 

“Careful, I’ll push you into the Seine!” Kristie laughed. 

“You wouldn’t dare,” the shorter girl smiled. 

“You said you’d been here before, right? For a tournament?” Kristie asked.

“Yeah, way back when. Can’t believe you’ve never been here; where else do you want to travel someday?” Rachel asked. 

“I don’t know; maybe... Italy? Japan would be really cool,” Kristie answered absentmindedly as her phone buzzed. 

The taller girl grabbed it and quickly replied to whatever the notification was, but Rachel began thinking about what she was doing and how she’d only known Kristie for a short time.  


Why had she decided to hide her phone? What could have been so bad? Was Rachel just being paranoid because of her experience with Christine? Kristie had reassured her so many times that Christine had treated her wrongly. Why would Kristie be doing anything to hurt her? Letting her resolve fade, Rachel focused on the rest of the date, choosing to trust Kristie. 

_If I’m making the wrong choice by trusting her,_ Rachel thought, _then whatever really is going on with Kristie certainly couldn’t hurt me more than Christine did. Right?_

Finally, the duo arrived at the Eiffel Tower, and Kristie couldn’t stop staring at it. 

“It’s so pretty; I mean, look at it!” The taller girl gawked.

“Yeah, it’s alright, isn’t it?” Rachel joked, not even looking at it as she was too busy looking at Kristie. 

“Let me get your photo in front of it,” Rachel suggested, as Kristie began posing. 

Eventually, once Kristie was satisfied with the results of their miniature photoshoot, she pulled her phone out and told Rachel to pose.

“No, no, I don’t want pictures of me,” the shorter girl protested.

“Rach, why? We are literally at the Eiffel Tower; you’re being crazy,” Kristie said.

“Don’t like how I look is all,” Rachel mumbled.

“Come here,” Kristie said, pulling Rachel into her arms.

The American hugged her date for only a few seconds, relishing in how Rachel was the perfect height. The shorter girl fit like a puzzle piece into her arms, and Kristie’s chin rested against the very top of Rachel’s head before she pulled back slightly. 

“Rachel,” Kristie said, brushing a lock of hair from Rachel’s face.

Kristie began reassuring Rachel, intending to kiss her after each word, once on her forehead, once on each of her cheeks, and once on her lips following the end of her sentence. 

“You - are - so - beautiful,” the taller girl said, interspersed with kisses. 

Still holding her, Kristie promised Rachel that she wouldn’t post any photos Rachel wasn’t comfortable with, but that she really wanted to remember this day. Within a few moments, Rachel was smiling and posing for Kristie, albeit shyly. 

“Looking gorgeous, Rachie,” Kristie called toward her as she continued to snap photos. 

Pulling her phone from her pocket, Rachel answered a text she had received from Millie while walking back toward Kristie. 

_babe, how’s the big day going? miss you x,_ the text read. 

“I’ll airdrop these to you, okay?” Kristie asked, as Rachel nodded. 

The airdrop notification appeared on Rachel’s screen, in Kristie’s view. However, Kristie could also see the very first part of Millie’s message. 

“Rach, who’s that text from? And why are they calling you babe?” Kristie asked, and Rachel unintentionally recoiled.

As soon as she said it, Kristie knew she probably shouldn’t have, but was too proud and stubborn to go back on it now.

_Aren’t I allowed to get texts from my friends?_ _Christine had never particularly liked Millie either_ , Rachel’s mind began to race. 

“It’s from Millie.. I didn’t ask for her to do that. She doesn’t mean it romantically,” the shorter girl bleakly answered, feeling like she’d somehow reverted into the version of her that Christine wanted.  


Or, seemed to want. 

“I’m sorry,” Rachel said. 

“Why don’t we go sit?” Kristie suggested, not wanting to lose her cool around the shorter girl and knowing she was being excessive. 

Moving toward the grass behind the Eiffel Tower should have been a mystical, magical stroll, but had somehow turned into a silent journey that Rachel perceived as no more welcoming than walking into the doctor’s office to get a shot. She knew she needed to find her voice and stand up for herself if she wanted this to work.  


Allowing Christine to walk all over her wasn’t exactly Christine’s fault entirely, and Rachel wondered if showing Kristie how she should be treated would help in this situation.  


Once the two finally sat down in the grass, Kristie room a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry I reacted that way. I was jealous, but it was petty.” 

“We’re not even dating! I don’t even know if you like me, Mewis!” Rachel shot back. 

“Whoa, you think I don’t like you?!” Kristie asked. 

“Do you?!” 

“Do I look like I liked that girl calling you babe?” 

“I don’t know, Kristie! How would I fucking know?!” 

“Oh, I don’t know?! Maybe because I’m in the city of love with you, vying for your attention?” Kristie asked angrily.

“Can we just let this go?” Rachel whispered, trying to change the tide of the conversation while stepping closer to Kristie. 

“That’s your solution? Let it go?” Kristie questioned. 

“I know you care about me; I’m sorry,” Rachel quietly replied. 

Rolling her eyes, Kristie sat back down in the grass, not looking at Rachel. 

“Look, Kristie, I’m sorry-“ Rachel tried.

“I know. I’m sorry too; I don’t know why I overreacted.” The taller girl replied.

Not knowing where they now stood, Rachel awkwardly looked around to see if anyone had noticed their very first fight in the middle of Paris. She also checked her watch, and realized that if she and Kristie didn’t make their way back to the Seine soon, they would miss the surprise reservations Rachel had made for them. 

“Kristie?” Rachel asked, leaning down toward the girl, and outstretching her hand for Kristie to be pulled up with.

Kristie, likely embarrassed, wouldn’t look into Rachel’s eyes. 

“Are we letting this ruin our date?” Rachel smiled, trying to get Kristie to smile too. 

When Kristie continued to look anywhere but at Rachel’s face, the shorter girl began poking at Kristie’s sides until she cracked a smile. 

“There’s my girl,” Rachel said as Kristie’s eyes widened. 

”Fuck, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“ Rachel began rambling.

“Shh, I liked it,” Kristie giggled. 

“I kind of have a surprise?” Rachel said, as if she was asking Kristie a question. 

“You do?” The taller girl asked.

“Come on then, we’re gonna be late to it if we don’t go now!” Rachel said, as she began walking toward the water. 

As the duo arrived at one of the small ports on the waterway, Kristie felt more confused than she had in recent days.

“Rachel, what are we-“ she tried.

“You’ll see,” Rachel smiled, grabbing Kristie’s hand and squeezing it. 

The American’s eyebrows moved upward quickly when a private dinner boat arrived in front of them. 

“Rachel, you didn’t,” 

“I did.” she smiled. 

As they boarded the boat, Kristie took in the sights of the city around her while the sun began to set outside. She was sat across from Rachel while twinkly lights beautified the boat, and she genuinely couldn’t believe this was her life. The two ordered and Kristie was as thrilled with the sights of the city as she was with how much Rachel was eating. 

“Kristie,” Rachel said quietly, on the other side of the table.

Kristie was beginning to be able to identify the inflections of Rachel’s voice, and on this occasion, she could tell Rachel was nervous.

“Yes, Rachie?” She replied.

“Can I get a dessert?” Rachel mumbled.

Kristie couldn’t believe her ears. 

“Yes, absolutely, of course, but hey, why are you asking me?” Kristie asked, trying to nurture Rachel.

“With Christine, she would sometimes just take something from me if she thought I shouldn’t have it.” The shorter girl answered as if it was not a big deal.

“God, she’s such a bitch,” Kristie replied.

“Sorry, that was the wrong thing say. I mean, you should always be allowed to eat what you want, and fuck Christine.” Kristie said steadily. 

Rachel ended up ordering the dessert, and the two split it. Kristie still couldn’t believe Rachel had rented a boat for them to enjoy dinner and each other’s company on, and as the cruise continued, the two were able to see the night sky from the middle of the Seine. 

“Kristie,” Rachel began, as she helped the taller girl off the boat at the conclusion of their cruise near the Louvre.

“Yeah?” The blonde asked.

“Do you.. maybe, want to- I don’t know...” Rachel stuttered. 

“Spit it out, honey,” Kristie smiled.

“Doyouwanttocomebacktomyhotel?” Rachel said, all in one breath. 

Feeling her heart drop into her stomach a little, Kristie knew she should say no. She hadn’t come clean about the bet and she wasn’t sure she was even going to. But, the sooner she slept with Rachel, the sooner the bet would be done and she could just continue to see Rachel  and pretend the bet had never happened. 

Not only would going back to Rachel’s hotel save her from being interrogated by her teammates about the date, but it would also afford her more time with Rachel. Maybe even more time spent kissing Rachel.

“I’d love to,” Kristie smiled while her internal monologue screamed _NO!!_ , and Rachel led the way.


	12. she

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • i have no explanation for what y’all are about to read except that i am so sorry and i hope you guys don’t hate me at the end lol  
> • remember to revisit the story’s tags for any tws & rating, especially for this chapter; it is rated m!!!  
> • i have never personally written anything this explicit in my life and am a little nervous about it so if you’re leaving a comment please be kind 🥺  
> • thank you guys so much for 4.7k reads, i will never not be mind blown by how many people like this fic 😭  
> • the title song for this chapter is she by harry styles  
> • dtfo 🧡🤘🏼

On the walk back to the hotel, Kristie snapped photos of Rachel walking under the streetlights of Paris in the dusk. In only one photo, Rachel had turned around and flashed her smiled at Kristie. The taller blonde begged Rachel to let her post it the entire walk, and Rachel finally agreed. 

_city nights with this one_ 💛 , Kristie had captioned it, before hitting post. Within a few moments, the photo had tons of likes and comments, including a few from Mal and Lindsey, whom Kristie hadn’t replied to earlier that day. 

“Rach, you look stunning,” Kristie said, as they turned the corner to the street of Rachel’s hotel.

Though it was dark, Rachel knew she was blushing. The wine they’d had on the boat seemed to make her more bashful and Kristie more daring. Finally, they arrived in Rachel’s hotel room, and Rachel realized she had absolutely no idea what she was doing. Were they going to sleep together? Did she want to do that? She’d asked Kristie back here wanting more time with the girl, but wondered if asking her back had implied sex.

_But you want to fuck her_ , Rachel thought. 

Once audacious and flirty with Kristie, Rachel knew she’d softened to the girl. She’d become vulnerable with her, and trying to get a rise out of Kristie had turned into something much more. She felt something real when she was around the taller girl, and Kristie awlways showed her how much she was wanted; all things Christine had failed to do. Why shouldn’t she let herself sleep with Kristie? Was that something Kristie even wanted? 

“So, erm,” Rachel said, as she sat on the bed of the hotel room.

“We could put something on?” Kristie suggested.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s- let’s do that. Do you want something to drink? I have waters in the fridge,” Rachel asked. 

“Yeah, that’d be great,” Kristie answered, laying down on the bed as Rachel passed the cold plastic bottles to her. 

The shorter girl laid down alongside her, but not for long. As soon as Kristie opened the water, she unintentionally spilled it across her shirt. 

“Oh dear,” Rachel said, hopping up to grab tissues, and beginning to blot the water from Kristie’s top. 

Within seconds, Rachel could see Kristie’s nipples through the already thin shirt. 

“Rach,” the blond said lowly.

“Yes,” the shorter girl replied, not looking anywhere but at the mattress below her.

“Do you care if I take this off?” She asked quietly. 

Gulping, Rachel shook her head no, as Kristie tore the wet fabric from her skin to reveal a sports bra that made her nipples even easier for Rachel to see. 

“Better?” Rachel asked, becoming hot and turning beet red as she continue to sneak peeks at Kristie’s body.

“Much better,” Kristie smirked. 

“Are you cold?” Rachel questioned, not knowing what to say.

“Yeah, but I think you know that,” Kristie giggled, alluding to Rachel’s stolen glances at her breasts.

“Shut uuuup,” Rachel whined, lightly smacking her palm to her forehead. 

“Come here; warm me up,” Kristie smirked, knowing that Rachel had been staring at her. 

The shorter girl crawled into Kristie’s arms and let her spoon her. With her arms around Rachel, Kristie rested her hands at the girl’s hips, starting to lightly massage Rachel. 

“Kris,” Rachel whined again. 

“Yes? Something wrong, Rachie?” Kristie whispered, but Rachel could hear the mischievous tone in her voice. 

“Fuck you,” Rachel mumbled, as she quickly twisted around in Kristie’s arms giving herself the upper hand. 

In seconds, Rachel was leaning down and kissing Kristie eagerly. Barely holding herself up, Rachel straddled Kristie’s waist and cupped the side of Kristie’s face as their tongues fought for superiority. Kristie’s hands found their way back to Rachel’s waist. When she first dug her fingertips into Rachel’s hips, she had no idea it would cause what it had, and she wanted to do it again. Feeling bold, Kristie did exactly that, and Rachel broke their kiss by moaning. 

“Kris,” Rachel began breathlessly, as Kristie took the opportunity to begin kissing lightly at Rachel’s neck. 

“Kris, I don’t know what I’m doing,” the shorter girl said, in between whimpers from Kristie’s kisses. 

“It’s okay; we don’t have to do anything you aren’t comfortable with,” Kristie said, lightly rubbing circles on Rachel’s sides with her thumbs to comfort her. 

“I don’t want to ruin the mood,” Rachel whispered, smiling.

“You won’t; just tell me what you’re feeling,” Kristie said, kissing Rachel’s cheek.

“I want this with you,” was probably the last thing Kristie expected Rachel to say, and while she knew that what she was doing was wrong, she wanted Rachel so badly that she didn’t care.

The sooner she slept with the girl, the sooner she could get rid of the bet. The sooner it would all be over and she could live a normal life with Rachel and pretend the whole thing had never happened. Right?

“Rachie, you didn’t want this with Christine; are you absolutely sure you want this with me?” Kristie asked, half wondering why but half wanting to hear how much better she was.

“I feel safe with you. She didn’t want my body the way it is; you do and you make me feel confident, beautiful, all that,” Rachel answered, still on top of the other girl. 

“I’ve never been with a girl either, you know that, right?” Kristie cautioned. 

“I know, and if you don’t want to-“ Rachel began.

“Fuck that. Let me show you just how badly I want you,” Kristie whispered, dimming the light from the lamp on the bedside table, as Rachel nodded. 

Quickly, Kristie flipped the two over so she could be on top. She momentarily panicked, not knowing what to do, but realized that she had already practiced how to please a girl with her own body. She decided to simply do what she thought was right rather than anything grandiose, and leaned down to start kissing Rachel once again. 

Their tongues fought for dominance and Kristie tugged at the bottom of Rachel’s shirt, only breaking their kiss to let Rachel pull it off, revealing no bra at all. 

“Fuck, Rach,” Kristie said as she finally got a look at Rachel’s body. 

“Bra, now,” Rachel mumbled, reaching up toward Kristie’s bra.

“Oh yeah? Eager, Rach?” Kristie teasedas Rachel whined. 

The taller girl pulled the sports bra up and over her head, as Rachel stared. 

“Kris, please touch me,” Rachel whimpered.

“Where?” Kristie smirked back. 

“You know where,” Rachel countered. 

“I want to hear you say it,” she demanded.

“My nipples; please fucking touch me, Kristie,” Rachel begged. 

Finally, Rachel got what she wanted as Kristie circled Rachel’s nipples with her fingers, leaning down to kiss her again. Soon enough, Kristie was kissing Rachel’s neck again before trailing her lips down to the shorter girl’s breasts. Kristie knew Rachel was turned on, but watching her buck her hips into Kristie’s as the taller girl’s tongue teased her was unexpectedly hot. 

“Kris, fuck,” she whimpered as Kristie nipped at her nipples before trailing her tongue further down Rachel’s abdomen. 

Kristie felt herself becoming more nervous, but tried to gauge that she was doing well by Rachel’s reactions. Sneaking her fingers near the very top of Rachel’s shorts, Kristie gave one more squeeze to Rachel’s hips, creating another moan. She looked up toward Rachel, not wanting to move any further without consent. 

“Are you sure you want this, Rach?” Kristie asked, playing with the hem at the waist and of Rachel’s shorts. 

“Yes, fuck yes,” the shorter girl replied breathlessly. 

Kristie cocked an eyebrow, perhaps revealing her own nervousness that Rachel instead read as Kristie’s asking for more reassurance to keep going.

“Take them off, Kris,” the shorter girl demanded. 

Sliding the shorts down Rachel’s legs, Kristie’s eyes widened at the wet spot on Rachel’s underwear. 

“Fuck,” she muttered, taking in Rachel’s nearly naked body. 

“Yours, off now,” Rachel declared, sitting up and pulling Kristie in to kiss her again. 

Kristie could tell Rachel was becoming impatient, and if her obvious arousal and verbal demands weren’t a sign that she wanted this, Kristie didn’t know what would be. Rachel lightly bit Kristie’s lower lip before pushing her tongue forward as she tugged at Kristie’s shorts. The taller girl couldn’t believe how turned on she was either, and quickly pulled her shorts down. 

Breaking the kiss, Rachel muttered, “can I touch you?” to which Kristie nodded fervently. 

As the taller blonde straddled Rachel’s waist, the shorter girl’s left hand ventured across Kristie’s breasts, while the right cupped Kristie over her panties. 

“Oh my God,” Kristie moaned, knowing she’d never been touched like this before. 

Rachel’s thumb found Kristie’s clit and began teasing at it from the other side of Kristie’s underwear. 

Profanities slipped out of Kristie’s mouth as goosebumps arose across her arm. Rachel smirked, knowing the effect she was having on the girl until Kristie pushed her back down onto the bed and situated herself between Rachel’s legs.

Noticing that the wet spot had gotten larger, Kristie ran her knuckle from the bottom to the top of Rachel’s underwear, sure she was brushing against the girl’s clit when Rachel groaned. 

“Kristie, please fucking take them off,” Rachel begged, as worked up as she’d ever been.

“Mine or yours?” Kristie replied breathily. 

“Both,” Rachel decided, as Kristie pulled hers down and threw them to the ground. 

She then turned her focus to Rachel, raking hers down her legs torturously slowly. 

“Tell me what you want,” Kristie began, not wanting to wait any longer. 

“This,” she said, circling Rachel’s clit with the pad of her finger as Rachel whimpered. 

“Or this,” Kristie asked before dipping her head down and licking a stripe up Rachel’s center. 

“That, that, fuck, please that,” Rachel answered, as Kristie smirked. 

The taller girl dipped her tongue lower, exploring Rachel’s folds further as Rachel’s fingers became threaded in Kristie’s hair. She tried to pull Kristie up to her clit until Kristie’s tongue circled Rachel’s entrance, truly dipping inside the girl only once. 

“Oh my fucking God,” Rachel moaned, throwing her head back. 

Turning her attention to Rachel’s clit, Kristie circled it with her tongue before sucking eagerly. 

“Kris, I’m- I’m close,” Rachel whimpered as her legs shook beneath Kristie. 

The taller girl smirked, continuing her ministrations as Rachel began yelling her name as she came. Letting Rachel ride it out, Kristie continued circling her clit until Rachel pulled Kristie’s head upward. 

“Come here, you. That was incredible,” Rachel said, as Kristie smiled, moving closer to Rachel’s face. 

In an instant, Rachel flipped the two over again so she could be on top. Kristie couldn’t help but smile slightly, feeling so happy to be sharing this moment with Rachel. The shorter girl didn’t let the smile last long, though, as Kristie began moaning as soon as Rachel’s lips brushed against her neck. 

“Rach, you don’t have to,” Kristie whispered.

“I want you so badly,” Rachel whispered before leaving a deep purple mark on Kristie’s neck. 

Pulling back, Rachel realized Kristie was playing with her own nipple, and that just wouldn’t do. 

“Stop it, this is mine,” she said, pushing Kristie’s hand away and replacing it with her teeth, biting ever so lightly. 

Kristie whimpered even more as Rachel’s fingers found her clit. 

“Rachie, please fuck me,” Kristie pathetically whispered. 

Nervously, Rachel inserted one finger and curled it, causing Kristie’s hips to buck forward for more. 

“Another, another,” she begged. 

Rachel moved up, kissing Kristie again, her fingers not leaving the taller girl’s pussy as she inserted another finger and used her palm to rub against Kristie’s clit. In only moments, Kristie was coming undone all over Rachel’s fingers as she screamed the girl’s name. 

As soon as it was over, Kristie knew that she couldn’t keep the bet to herself forever. Rachel came and cuddled into Kristie’s arms, and the taller girl simply held her. 

“Thank you,” Rachel whispered up to her. 

“You don’t have to thank me,” Kristie replied softly.

“You made me feel beautiful. I’m glad my first time was you,” Rachel said. 

Kristie felt like dread was running through her veins as she said, “me too.” 

“Can I keep seeing you?” Rachel asked finally. 

“I’d like that,” the American answered. 

“Hey, Kris?” Rachel asked. 

“Yeah, love?” 

“Would you- would you be my girlfriend?” Rachel mumbled, nervousness evident in her voice. 

_This was it_ , Kristie thought. _The bet can be over, she’ll be my girlfriend, we had sex, I can call it off. Thank God._

“Of course,” the taller girl replied, smiling. 

It was late, however, and Kristie had a game to play the next day. 

“Rachie, I have to go, we play tomorrow,” she said sadly. 

“S’okay, I know,” Rachel said quietly, as Kristie got up. 

For the first time in a long time, Kristie checked her phone, and her heart fell deep into her stomach when she saw 13 missed calls from Mal, 9 from Lindsey, and about 30 texts in the group chat, the very last one reading, kristie, get here now, we are panicking. 

“Everything alright?” Rachel asked, as she got up to walk Kristie out. 

“Yeah, um, I think so,” Kristie answered, knowing that everything was far from alright. 

Before closing her phone, the last notification Kristie saw was that Christine had liked her photo of Rachel. 

“Are you sure?” Rachel pushed.

“Yeah, yeah absolutely,” Kristie assured.

“Thank you for tonight and for today; I had an amazing time,” Kristie said in the threshold of the hotel room door.

“Thank you, too, girlfriend,” Rachel smiled. 

“Hey, Kris?” She asked, as Kristie turned around to leave.

Turning back, Kristie said, “yeah?” 

“Do you regret it? I mean, this? Was I okay? Was I fat?” Rachel asked.

“Rach, I’d never regret it. You were incredible and you are stunning,” Kristie assured.

“Okay. Night, text me when you get there,” Rachel asked, leaning in for a kiss.

“Always, night, Rachie,” Kristie said as she walked out into the hotel then to the streets of Paris. 

What she didn’t know was that about an hour earlier, Mal had told Siri to call Kris, and left a voicemail after hearing the number you are trying to reach is unavailable. The voicemail went into detail about how she felt that the bet was stupid and dehumanizing, and that she didn’t want Kristie to hurt Rachel anymore. But the voicemail went to the wrong Kris, and Kristie Mewis never heard it.

Christine, however, now knew all about Kristie’s dirty little secret.


	13. bend the rules

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi y’all!! i absolutely CANNOT believe that the amount of reads has gone up 900??!? that’s completely insane! thank you so much for 5.6K; i am genuinely in shock!! i hope you enjoy this chapter & thank you so much for your kind comments and kudos!! dtfo 🧡
> 
> title song: bend the rules by niall

Once back at the hotel, Kristie realized she’d accidentally left her panties on Rachel’s floor as she made her way to Lindsey and Mal’s room. She banged on the door despite the hour, and waited for Mal to open it up. The two weren’t asleep, and Lindsey continued to pace as soon as Kristie entered the room. Her eyes fell upon Ali, who was consoling Mal on her bed. 

“What the fuck happened?” Kristie said steadily, though her heart rate was anything but steady.

“I’m so sorry, Kristie,” Mal said, tears on her cheeks. 

“What’s going on? Ali, what are you doing here?” Kristie asked again, more sternly. 

“Kristie, it’s not Mal’s fau-“ Lindsey began, until Kristie cut her off.

“What the FUCK HAPPENED?!” Kristie yelled, as Mal continued to cry. 

“Mal called you- well, she didn’t call you, she told Siri to call _Kris_ and she left a voicemail,” Lindsey tried to explain lightly.

“Okay? I don’t have a voicemail from her; why the fuck is she crying?!” Kristie questioned nervously.

“When she told her phone to call Kris.. it didn’t call you. It called a different Kris,” the girl tried to put gently, as Kristie looked to Ali, not understanding. 

“Christine,” Ali said at the same time the light bulb lit up inside of Kristie’s head. 

“What did you say?” Kristie nearly growled toward Mal.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, Kristie, I never meant to mess this up for you!” Mal cried. 

“Mal, what did you say?” Kristie tried again, as she closed her eyes, feeling a hot tear run down her cheek.

“She knows everything,” Mal choked out between sobs. 

At first, Kristie didn’t feel anything. And it only lasted seconds, because then her blood felt cold beneath her skin. She wanted to yell, but she didn’t. Yelling wouldn’t help her now; the damage was done.  


Not knowing what to do any longer, Kristie silently left the room, walking on auto-pilot back to her room. She didn’t know if Ali would come in or sleep in Ashlyn’s room, and she hoped for the latter so she could have time to herself. 

Shaking her from her state was the loud ring of her phone, with Rachel’s name flashing across the screen. _This is it_ , Kristie thought.

“Rachel?” Kristie answered the call.

“Hey, love,” Rachel said, and Kristie realized she didn’t sound angry or upset. 

_ Perhaps she didn’t know? _

“Hi,” Kristie replied.

“Just wanted to make sure you made it back, and say thank you for today and tonight,” Rachel said steadily.

“Yeah, yeah I- I made it home,” Kristie stuttered.

Waiting patiently for Kristie to say something, anything, else, Rachel let an awkward silence fill the phone line for a few seconds before asking.

“Is everything alright?” The shorter girl questioned carefully.

_ I should tell her now. I should tell her before Christine does. But what’s the point? She won’t want anything to do with me either way.  _

“Yeah, everything is fine. Thank you for calling me; you’re sweet to check,” Kristie breathed out slowly, wondering if this was the last time she would ever see the photo of Rachel’s smiling face light up her phone with an incoming call. 

“Sure, yeah, okay. Well, erm- night?” Rachel said nervously.

“Night, Rachel, sleep well,” Kristie said, hanging up the call. 

Knowing she had been acting weird, Kristie wondered if Rachel could tell. And she certainly could. The English girl sat alone in her hotel room, thinking that perhaps the sex was no good, or she said something to offend Kristie. What had she done? Did it have to with her body, like Christine might have said? 

Streets away in her own hotel, Kristie wondered how soon Christine would tell Rachel. Should she be preparing in some way? How could she face how bad this really was? Kristie realized that she’d lost sight of how it had all started. A bet to give the USWNT an advantage in the World Cup. Nothing more, nothing less. Kristie was never supposed to actually fall for Rachel. Kristie was never supposed to regrets doing this. Kristie was never supposed to even get as close to Rachel as she had.

All the walks through the city and the days spent texting each other and the kisses and cuddles; none of it was ever supposed to have effected Kristie the way it had.

Glancing toward the clock, which showed an early hour of the morning, Kristie finally clicked the light off and set her alarm, falling into a restless sleep. 

Of course, her alarm went off way too soon for her liking, and Kristie awoke to the familiar sense of dread overcoming her body. She flipped over to check her phone, finding nothing that suggested Christine had even listened to Mal’s message. However, Christine did have a photo of an airport terminal in her story. Perhaps she had been flying somewhere and hadn’t heard the message? Maybe the call was never even placed if Christine hadn’t had cell signal? Kristie hoped so. 

Getting out of the bed finally, Kristie got dressed to head to the stadium with the team. She, however, was in no condition to be playing. She didn’t even want to face the team for breakfast, and avoided everyone, except Ali who had come to pick up her clothes, until they arrived on the bus. She was sat next to Sam again, who was talking Emily Sonnett’s ear off as usual. Kristie avoided Mal and Lindsey’s glances, not wanting to speak to anyone unless completely necessary. While she wasn’t thrilled with either of them, she knew that being in this situation was her very own fault. 

At the stadium, she practiced drills on her own, or without speaking to anyone she was partnered with. What had originally been an opportunity to ruin England’s chances was quickly snowballing into ruining the USWNT’s chances as everybody could sense that something was wrong with Kristie. 

The stands filled up, and Lindsey called over to Kristie as the starting lineup was announced. They were both on it, and Kristie expected Lindsey to be congratulating her, but upon finding the midfielder near the stands, Kristie realized that was not the case at all.

Rachel was in the very first row, wearing a USWNT jersey, equipped with _MEWIS_ across the back. Kristie’s heart lurched almost as much as her stomach when she saw the girl Lindsey was motioning toward. Rachel had come to see her play. 

She felt it was only right to go over to speak to Rachel, so she made her way to the stands and pulled her body upward to be on the same level as Rachel.

“Hey you,” she said, trying to show that she liked Rachel being in her jersey.

She did, but knew that anything that happened at this point would be moot soon enough. 

“Hey! Everything alright?” Rachel questioned again. 

“Yeah, yeah, just.. nervous,” Kristie said, not specifying what about. 

“You’re going to smash it, babe,” Rachel reassured, pulling Kristie in for a kiss.

Kristie allowed it to happen, but knew she shouldn’t. 

“After the game, I want to celebrate with you and your friends. Sam, too; all of us should go and have dinner,” Rachel suggested. 

The more time Kristie spent in person with Rachel, the less time Christine had to contact her, right? 

“Yeah, I’d love that. I’ll ask Ash, Ali, Mal, and Linds too,” Kristie agreed, thinking Rachel would find it odd if she arrived to the “celebration with friends” without any of her friends. 

“Alright, it’s on! Good luck, you’ve got it,” Rachel said, as Kristie lowered herself back down and returned to the field. 

She steadily walked up to Mal and Lindsey, asking them if they would accompany her to dinner with Rachel. The two looked confused, but agreed, wondering if it would help Kristie to feel better in some way. After receiving yeses from Ali, Ashlyn, and Sam, Kristie turned around and flashed Rachel a thumbs up. 

The game finally began, and Kristie scored alongside many of her teammates, pushing the USWNT to soar up the leaderboard. The blonde’s eyes had met Rachel’s after she scored, and her girlfriend looked over the moon for her.

Back in the locker room, post-game, Kristie reunited with her phone to resume stalking Christine, but to no avail. Yet again, the girl had not posted anything. Kristie wondered if she should start looking harder. Christine’s Twitter likes? Her Spotify playlists? Would anything give a clue as to what Christine was up to? Clicking away from Instagram, Kristie found a text from Rachel in her inbox that read, _great job today, beautiful. can’t wait to see ya tonight x_ _ 💛 _ .

In addition to Rachel’s text was a missed call from Kristie’s agent, and one voicemail. Pushing the phone up toward her ear, Kristie played the voicemail and heard her agent’s voice crackling through the small speaker. 

“Kristie, I know you’re playing right now, but I just got the confirmation documents; you’re being traded to the Houston Dash. Call me next week to discuss; I’m so excited for you!” 


	14. move together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys!!! thank you SO much for 6.4K reads!!! how insane is that?!? 🤯 also thank you to everyone who’s commented and bookmarked and left kudos & everything else!! i hope you all enjoy this chapter!! dtfo 🧡
> 
> chapter title song: move together - james bay

While Kristie had a feeling it was coming, this was absolutely going to complicate things even more at this moment. She called her agent back, and heard that she was to report to Houston following the World Cup to begin training. 

Rachel and Kristie both returned to their respective hotels to prepare for the group dinner with Mal, Linds, Sam, Ali, and Ashlyn. 

For Kristie, nervous was an understatement, as half the group knew what was bubbling beneath the surface, but Kristie had to believe that Christine hadn’t received the message. Otherwise, she was simply playing a waiting game for the expiration of her new relationship. She checked on Christine’s social media’s again and still found nothing. 

Laying down in her bed, the blonde decided that she couldn’t handle the anguish anymore. She decided, finally, that after the dinner tonight, she would come clean to Rachel and explain the whole thing. No more lies, no more secrets.  


She sighed a breath of relief, knowing she’d made a decision, if nothing else. Kristie reopened her phone and sent a text to Rachel which read, _want to meet up at 4; i don’t have a place in mind. any ideas? and, can we talk after dinner tonight?_ to which Rachel replied, _yeah, everything ok?_ The taller girl didn’t respond, not wanting to lie, since everything was certainly not okay. 

Back in her own hotel room, Rachel was pacing around aimlessly, trying to pick apart what had happened to make Kristie act so weird. While she’d only known the American a short time, she felt this was definitely odd behavior. 

No replies to texts, the anxious glances to her phone, even the way Kristie had acted about her notifications during the date was crossing Rachel’s mind. She took a glance down to the floor which held Kristie’s underwear from the night before, and couldn’t get it out of her mind that maybe the sex was so bad that Kristie was looking for ways to get rid of Rachel now.  


Had it been too soon to ask her to be her girlfriend? Was Kristie actually not attracted to girls and only found out after sex? Rachel didn’t know what to think or how to process any of it, but wondered if Kristie had even wanted her to come to the game. Maybe she’d overstepped? It didn’t make sense. 

The shorter girl changed into an outfit more suitable for dinner and realized nobody had decided where they were going and that it was nearing dinner time. Rachel searched google for a nearby place and landed on a restaurant near the Louvre that looked sort of boujee inside. It had a bar but also plenty of seats, and seemed to have a more upbeat, electric vibe than the other local cafés. Rachel decided this was the best option, hoping that the upbeat atmosphere would put Kristie in a more positive mood. 

She sent a text off to Kristie, who still had not replied, with the address of the place and a _?_ , and Kristie liked the message. Shutting her eyes for just a second, Rachel knew that something was really wrong. She finally opened them and took in the view of her hotel room, which she loved very much. 

Paris had always been a city she enjoyed, and the more she looked out the window, the more she thought of the fun she and Kristie had exploring the city. She wondered if those good memories would feel like bad ones by the end of the night, and shut her curtains, leaving for the restaurant. 

Coming from the opposite direction toward the restaurant were Kristie, Mal, Sam, Ali, Ashlyn, and Lindsey. 

“Okay, everyone be cool, I don’t know exactly what we’re walking into,” Kristie cautioned to the group as Sam rose an eyebrow.

“What do you mean? You guys seemed totally fine yesterday,” Sam questioned.

Ashlyn, also unaware of the situation, joked, “what happened, Kristie? The sex no good?” 

The group, except for Mal, giggled slightly while Kristie’s cheeks turned red. 

“Wait...” Ali said, noticing Kristie’s reaction. 

“Is that why you were-“ Mal began.

“Out so late last night,” Lindsey finished, her eyes widening. 

Ali merely covered her mouth in surprise while Ashlyn looked around confusedly. 

“Wait, were you just not going to mention that you banged her?? How the hell did this happen?” Lindsey asked. 

“Well I was there with her and... and, the beds here are so small, and... I don’t know, Linds, it just happened! I don’t know!” Kristie answered, exasperated and not proud of what she’d done. 

“Can someone please tell me what the heck is actually going on here?” Sam asked, putting her hands on her hips. 

“Ali?” Kristie asked, hoping the brunette would explain for her.

“Okay, long story - and I mean very long story - short. Lindsey and Mallory made a bet with Kristie. She was supposed to get Rachel to fall for her and sleep with her to get England to lose against us in the World Cup because Rachel would be really upset once she found out it was all a bet. And then, super straight Kristie turned out not to be so straight and actually fell for Rachel and apparently now has slept with her. Oh, and one other thing; Mal accidentally called Rachel’s manipulative ex girlfriend, who is conveniently named Chris, on the phone, and told her that the bet was going on. So now Kristie has slept with a girl she didn’t intend to fall for and said girl’s crazy ex is probably putting some plan in motion right now to tell her. Also, the earnings from the bet were $100, and Christine knows that too. Essentially, if I was Kristie, I would probably start praying now,” Ali answered. 

“Thanks, Al,” Kristie rolled her eyes. 

“So now we are going to get dinner with Rachel, and she doesn’t know that this is all a bet, and she doesn’t know that her crazy ex knows that this is all a bet,” Sam clarified. 

“You’ve got it down, Sam,” Lindsey reassured. 

“But I don’t know if Christine even got the message because she posted that she was in an airport so I’ve been clinging to the hope that she doesn’t actually know,” Kristie interjected, explaining her too-calm demeanor.

“So there’s a chance she doesn’t know?” Ashlyn asked, to which the rest of the group nodded. 

“Kristie, if you ruined my opportunity to learn about the tea, I am gonna be pretty upset,” Sam promised. 

“That is so not my concern right now,” Kristie dismissed, as the group arrived at the restaurant and found Rachel standing outside. 

The shorter girl hesitantly walked over to Kristie, but still seemed glad to see her as they shared a hug. Ashlyn whistled behind Kristie as Rachel kissed her cheek. Rachel said her hellos to the rest of the group as they made their way inside, and Sam snagged her number so she could ask about tea later. 

Rachel sat across from Kristie and intertwined her legs with the girl’s under the table while everybody chattered away. Lindsey asking Rachel about her training and Ali wondering how many places Rachel had played before.  


Kristie was pleased that the other girls seemed to like Rachel so much, and wondered if Rachel could tell that they were all the tiniest bit more nervous than she was to be there. Until it was no longer only a little anxiety that Kristie felt.

Until her eyes met with a pair of brown ones across the restaurant near the front door. Until Ali’s hand was hitting her back as she choked on her drink. Until she realized that Christine hadn’t been getting off a plane, but getting on one. To Paris. To tell Rachel, right here and right now.


	15. i love you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi you guys!!! thank you SO much for 7.2k reads; i am literally in shock!! i so appreciate all the kind comments, bookmarks, kudos; everything!! also my apologies for this chapter please don’t hate me 🥺🧡
> 
> chapter title song: i love you by billie eilish

“Kris, are you alright?” Rachel asked, getting up from her chair to try to help Kristie as she choked on the other side of the table.

“Oh, baby, she’s fine,” Christine’s voice rang through the air as the hairs on the back of Rachel’s neck rose. 

The shorter girl turned around to ensure she hadn’t been hallucinating the voice, and sure enough, found Christine. 

“What the fuck is going on here,” Rachel muttered while everyone else at the table fell silent, unsure of what to do as Kristie continued to cough. 

Finally, the taller girl finished with her coughing fit as her eyes began to well up with tears, though they were not from choking. 

“Rachel, I-“ Kristie began, until she was cut off by Christine. 

The English girl stood confusedly between the two; her girlfriend behind her and her ex-girlfriend in front of her, both desperate to take her attention from the other. 

“There’s nothing you can explain to her better than I can, Mewis,” Christine seethed. 

Feeling tears also well in her eyes, Rachel began to shake; something she’d often done when in Christine’s presence before. Seeking comfort desperately, Rachel turned to Kristie, who couldn’t bring herself to meet the shorter girl’s glance. In that moment, Rachel knew that her intuition had been right. Somewhere along the line, something had gone very, very wrong. 

“Turn around, baby,” Christine coaxed. 

“Why are you here?” Rachel countered, turning to Christine. 

“Mallory, honey, would you like to tell the group why I’m here?” Christine suggested, as Rachel turned toward the table. 

Every single one of Kristie’s friends was sat in silence, except for Mal who sat with her head in her hands.  


_What in the world?_ Rachel thought. 

“It’s not her fault; it was an accident,” Lindsey finally piped up. 

“An accident? And what about your $100 bill, Lindsey? Was that an accident too?” Christine asked, snatching Lindsey’s wallet from the table before anyone else could grab it. 

“Rachel, my darling, you’ve been played,” Christine began, as Kristie full on cried behind Rachel. 

“What are you on about?” Rachel asked, looking around to every person she knew at the table and noticing that not one of them would even so much as look into her eyes. 

“Mewis is straight, Rachie. She tricked you,” Christine said, parcelling out the details to make the experience all the more painful for all involved. 

“No, she’s not. She can’t be straight, you don’t understand,” Rachel explained, not remembering to shut her mouth before it was too late. 

“I don’t understand? What did you do, Rach? Sleep with her?” Christine taunted.

“Stop it,” Kristie whispered through her tears. 

“Oh my god. You did sleep with her,” Christine realized, her eyes widening. 

“So did you get what you wanted, Kristie? You won the bet, didn’t you?” She continued. 

“Stop!” Kristie yelled back at her while she cried. 

Rachel wanted to badly to wrap her arms around the girl and comfort her; hide her away from Christine, but she didn’t know who she could trust in this moment. 

“Still confused, Rach? I’ll let Mal explain it to you,” Christine said, pulling out her phone to play the message. 

Uncharacteristically, Mal lunged for the phone until Lindsey pulled her back, not wanting Mal to lose her spot on the team for assaulting another player. 

“Hey Kris, it’s just me, Mal. I was talking to Ali earlier and she told me about how you’re in pretty deep with Rachel. I think it’s time we call the bet off; I mean, who knew it would all turn out like this? I thought it would just be a smart way to give us a better chance at winning, and get you that $100 that Lindsey wrote on, but it doesn’t feel right now. You’re not even gay, right? I just- I don’t want you to have to sleep with her, not like this. Maybe we can talk about it later on. See ya later,” the recording played out, as Mal and Kristie both continued to cry. 

“What?” Rachel whispered as tears streamed down her face as well. 

“Rachel,” Kristie cried, trying to reach out for the girl. 

“How could you?” Rachel whispered back to her as Christine pulled the bill from Lindsey’s wallet and handed it to Rachel. 

The shorter girl held it up, reading out the “Kristie’s bet money,” marking across it. 

“One hundred dollars? Is that all I was ever worth to you?” Rachel choked out at Kristie. 

“No, Rachel, I swear-“ Kristie began.

“Come here, Rachel. Look at all this food she’s allowed you to order; she clearly doesn’t care about you,” Christine coaxed, pulling Rachel into her arms as she cried while Christine smirked across to Kristie. 

“Get the fuck off of her! You don’t get to comfort her now!” Kristie yelled, while Lindsey let go of Mal to hold Kristie back. 

“Rachel, I can explain,” Kristie said, her voice breaking.

“Is this what you wanted to talk about after dinner? How the fuck were you going to talk your way out of this one, Kristie? Never mind it. I never want to hear your voice ever again,” Rachel turned around and said, throwing the bill on the table. 

“Rachel, please, please don’t do this,” Kristie sobbed as Christine led Rachel out of the restaurant. 

Ali enveloped Kristie in a hug, and Ashlyn joined the two. Sam looked frustrated but quickly found the hostess and paid for the meal while Lindsey consoled Mal. 

“Let’s get you back to the hotel,” Ali said quietly to Kristie while Ashlyn nodded. 

“No, I have to go after her, Ali, I have to,” Kristie argued. 

“No, honey, not right now,” Ashlyn soothed, answering for Ali as Lindsey ushered the group from the restaurant and back to the hotel. 

—

“Rachie, I’d like to say I’m sorry but honestly, you should have known better,” Christine backhandedly spat at the shorter girl as they walked.

Rachel continued to hiccup as she tried to hold back her tears, but she knew Christine was walking her to her hotel. 

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue? Oh wait, that was someone else’s pussy,” Christine scathed. 

Rachel knew better than to speak back to the girl, as a million questions flooded through her mind about Kristie.

_How could she have lied this entire time? And, how could she lie so well? How was I such a fool to believe her?_ Rachel thought. 

_ Am I really only worth $100?  _

Having walked on autopilot while Christine’s muffled accusatory tone tormented her from a few inches away, Rachel found herself at her hotel room’s door in no time.

“I’m, er- this is my room,” Rachel tried to put carefully, hoping Christine would leave. 

“Yeah, I know, my suitcase it already in there,” she answered.

“What?” Rachel questioned, as she used the key card to unlock the door and sure enough, there laid Christine’s suitcase. 

“How did you get this in here?” Rachel asked, realizing that this meant Christine would be staying over with her. 

“I told the front desk that I was your girlfriend; I showed them some pictures of us,” Christine explained, strolling into the room and picking up Kristie’s pair of underwear that still sat on the floor. 

“But you’re-“ Rachel began.

“But what, Rachel? You’re not my girlfriend anymore? In case you forgot, we were on a break because you refused to sleep with me. But now that you clearly have no problem whoring around, we can be together again. You’ve finally seen the light,” Christine answered, laying down in Rachel’s bed. 

“Chris...” Rachel said. 

“What, Rachel?” She growled. 

“I think I need some time,” the shorter girl said quietly, grabbing a pair of clothes from her bag and heading for the door. 

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?! Get back here, Rachel,” Christine growled. 

Against her better judgement, Rachel turned around, tears in her eyes.

“Let me comfort you. What that girl did to you was so wrong,” Christine said, while Rachel knew that Christine had never treated her any better.

“Come here; be with me,” Christine said smirking as Rachel begrudgingly did as she was told, afraid of the consequences. 

Once in bed with Christine, Rachel felt her body going rigid. She was beyond uncomfortable with the other girl as Christine continued to try to snuggle into her. 

“Rachel, kiss me,” Christine demanded, hovering above the shorter girl.

“I really don’t-“ Rachel began.

“I came all the way here to save you from that bitch, and you can’t even do so much as kiss me?! I was your girlfriend and you wouldn’t sleep with me, but you slept with her, didn’t you, Rach? Did you ever even think about how that made me feel? Don’t I matter to you? You hurt me and now you owe it to me to do this since you were such a slut,” Christine said aggressively. 

“No, no, you can’t do this,” Rachel whispered, frozen in fear. 

She knew she’d seen Christine be emotionally manipulative before, but the girl had never tried to convince her so strongly to have sex. 

“You know what?! It wouldn’t even be fun because you’re not in the mood, like always,” Christine said, rolling her eyes and rolling off of Rachel.

“Goodnight, Rachel,” she spat, as she fell asleep next to the girl. 

Rachel picked up her pair of clothes and her phone charger then slipped out the door while a jet lagged Christine snoozed in her bed. Unsure of where she really could go, Rachel got out her phone and thought of who to call.  


Too many of her things remained in the hotel with Christine to up and leave, heading back to another French city to reunite with her team. There was no way she would call Kristie, and she didn’t particularly want to spend on another hotel room. However, staying with Christine was not an option at all. 

Sitting down on a bench a few streets away from the hotel, Rachel felt tears running down her face as she finally got a second to process all that had happened. The relationship with Kristie hadn’t been real. The whole goal was to win the World Cup. She was only worth $100 to Kristie, who she’d given up her virginity to. Who she felt like she’d really connected with. Who she’d told so much to and who she’d shared such beautiful moments with. 

“Rachel?” A voice startled her from her thoughts. 

Rachel looked up into the direction of the voice, but struggled to locate it in the dark.


	16. arms of a stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys!!! thank you SO MUCH for 7.9K; i seriously will never get over how kind you all are to read this and leave comments and kudos and bookmarks and everything you do 🥺 i really appreciate you all and hope you enjoy this chapter!!
> 
> title song: arms of a stranger by niall

Finally, a tall blonde appeared from the shadows, but the first thing Rachel noticed was that she was taller than Kristie. 

“Sam?” Rachel asked.

“Yeah, it’s me, what are you doing out here?” Sam asked, sitting down next to her.

“I could ask you the same,” Rachel laughed.

“I feel awkward going on the team runs in the early evening because my legs are so long that I go too far ahead of the group, so I go by myself when it’s dark out,” Sam explained. 

“Oh, alright, that makes sense. I suppose I’m out here because of your sister... no offense though,” Rachel tried to explain lightly. 

“It’s okay; I can’t believe she did that either. When she talked about you, she always seemed so genuine,” Sam said.

“She talked to you about me?” Rachel quipped. 

“Yeah, more than she’s talked about anyone else she’s been with,” Sam answered. 

“She’s been texting me since dinner.. and calling. A lot. But I can’t talk to her now, I mean, I want to, but I haven’t processed what she did to me. I still feel like I can trust her but I can’t. Sorry, I don’t mean to vent to you,” Rachel said. 

“It’s okay, I get it. But hey, where is Christine?” Sam asked, nodding to Rachel’s set of clothes.

“She’s asleep. In my bed, at my hotel. She wanted to have sex and I didn’t so she eventually fell asleep and I didn’t feel safe staying there with her so now I’m here,” Rachel said.

“Well you’re not just going to sleep on this bench, are you? Come on, you can stay in my hotel room; I didn’t get a roommate at this one. I mean, I did; I got Mal, but she’s staying with Lindsey and Kristie,” Sam said, getting up.

“Wait, really?” Rachel asked.

“Yeah, come on,” Sam said, leading the two back to her hotel. 

“Sam, I really appreciate this, I- I’m just grateful is all,” Rachel said on their way. 

“It’s honestly the least I could do after what she pulled,” Sam said, rolling her eyes. 

So Rachel arrived at the very same hotel again, taking the same elevator to the same floor with a different Mewis sister. Sam peeked her head out of the elevator to ensure the coast was clear before ushering Rachel quickly to her room, where a second bed was completely untouched as Sam had no roommate. 

“I really can’t thank you enough-“ Rachel began to say until she was cut off by a knock on the door. 

“Hide, hide!” Sam said, as Rachel dashed toward the closet, closing the door nearly completely as Sam opened the door. 

“Sammy,” Rachel could bear Kristie’s broken voice say. 

“Kristie,” Sam responded stiffly. 

“I fucked up so badly,” Kristie said, pushing her way into the room to pace. 

Rachel’s heart lodged into her throat and she froze in the dark closet, only able to see through the cracked open door. It would certainly not be ideal for Kristie to find her there, and she didn’t want Kristie to find her.  


After what the girl had put her through, Rachel felt she would never be able to trust the taller girl again. More upset than angry, Rachel breathed as quietly as she could. Sam followed Kristie into the room and the two sat down on Sam’s bed. 

“What am I going to do?” Kristie questioned, looking toward her sister for advice.

“Well it was a bet, right? Why does it matter to you?” Sam answered. 

Rachel wondered if Sam was asking that because she knew Rachel could hear them and she held onto a shred of hope that Kristie actually had cared. But, maybe Rachel was just projecting.

“It matters to me because she matters to me,” Kristie put simply. 

“Kris, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, but maybe you should have thought of this before letting her find out through Christine of all people,” Sam replied. 

“So you’re on her side?” Kristie responded, becoming frustrated. 

“Nope. I’m not on any sides because there aren’t sides; you and she didn’t fight. You fucked up, and she’s hurting because of it. But if you want someone to condone what you did, you’re in the wrong room,” Sam replied. 

Rachel heard Kristie take a deep breath and she silently prayed that Kristie was fed up with Sam and getting ready to leave. How could she explain that she was in Sam’s closet? How could she manage to face Kristie at this moment? 

“I know you’re right,” Kristie finally said. 

“So what are you going to do about it?” Sam asked.

“Maybe I should go to her hotel?” Kristie asked.

“NO! I mean... no. Nope, that’s not a good idea. It’s- it’s too late at night, Kristie you’re being crazy! She’ll be asleep! Or, erm, busy? I don’t know, but definitely do not go over there,” Sam over-explained, panicking. 

“Why are you acting weird?” Kristie questioned as Rachel’s breath hitched from behind the closet door. 

These stressful situations were becoming quite familiar to the shorter girl. Would she have always ended up involved in circumstances like this if she’d stayed entangled with Kristie? 

“Me? I’m acting totally normal,” Sam tried. 

“You know something.” Kristie accused, standing up and beginning to walk around the room.

“Where’s your phone?” Kristie asked, looking around. 

“My phone? What would be on my phone? I don’t know anything, Kristie, you just shouldn’t go over there this late,” Sam attempted. 

“Oh, you don’t know anything? Whose shirt is this?” Kristie said and Rachel could see the girl picking up the black Rad RD3 shirt from the bed. 

“It’s... mine! Yep! Just... getting ready for bed!” Sam replied. 

“You wear Rachel’s shirt to bed? Give me a break, Sam. Where is she?” Kristie said frustratedly. 

“She... gave it to me! It’s mine; I wear it to bed like you said. She has nice merch and I asked for it,” Sam said, her voice wavering. 

“She wouldn’t carry merch to give away with her to the World Cup,” Kristie reasoned, to which Sam had no logical response. 

“Why won’t she talk to me? I know that I hurt her, but she won’t even hear my side,” Kristie asked, sighing. 

“She just feels-“ Sam began.

“Exactly!! So you have talked to her! This is her shirt, not yours, and she’s probably in this hotel right now, isn’t she? Where is she?” Kristie turned her tone around and grilled. 

“I don’t, I can’t-“ Sam stuttered. 

“Why isn’t she with Christine? What did that bitch do to her? I swear to God I’m going to go over there,” Kristie growled.

“She’s okay, Kristie. She just- she doesn’t know how to talk to you right now. She doesn’t know if she can trust you. You can’t blame her for that,” Sam tried to explain.

Feeling a sneeze begin to well up in her body, Rachel held her breath like her life depended on it.

“You always have the be the favorite, don’t you? First you get both our parents’ support then you get the National Team years before I do, and now you even have Rachel. Unbelievable,” Kristie said, walking toward the hotel room door, and opening it to leave. Sam appeared behind her and went to close it when  Rachel finally sneezed. Kristie whipped her head back toward the room.

”She- she _is_ in there isn’t she?“ Kristie asked desperately.  
  
“I’ll see you later, Kris,” Sam said, shutting the door. 

Rachel came out from her hiding spot and apologized to Sam that she had had to deal with that for her. 

“It’s fine, Rachel. She gets like this; it’s nothing new,” the Mewis sister sighed.

”I can’t freeze her out forever,” Rachel said after a few beats of silence.

”I think I would if I were you,” Sam replied, rolling her eyes at Kristie’s poor decision making skills.

”In bed with Christine, all I could think about was how Kristie would’ve never pressured me like that. I don’t know. Like, it’s ridiculous that I even feel like this because Kristie’s the one who hurt me,” Rachel explained.   
  


”Well, I’m no lesbian, but from experience, I can tell you that when it’s right, you’ll just know it is. Maybe Christine isn’t, but it doesn’t mean Kristie is either,” Sam said, trying to stay neutral.

”Thanks, Sam,” Rachel replied, hugging the taller girl.

Eventually, the two headed to sleep, and Rachel snuck out the next morning at an early hour. She ran back to her original hotel and found that Christine was in the shower. Deciding to simply surrender her toothbrush, soap, shampoo, and conditioner, Rachel packed up her bag as quickly as she could.  


On the nightstand, however, the short blonde found two hair ties that she recognized as Kristie’s from when the girl had been there. She grabbed both and put them on her wrist before zipping her bag. As the hotel door closed, she heard the shower stop. She’d made it out just in time.

With only a few games between now and the next time she’d see Kristie Mewis, how would Rachel come back from this?


	17. where’s my love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi you guys!! thank you so much for 8.7K reads; i can’t believe so many people like this story!! it’s the first slow burn i have done (but not without help 💛) and so it really means a lot to me that y’all enjoy it 🥺 also this story is far from complete, so stay tuned!! 
> 
> chapter title song: where’s my love - syml

Two weeks later, the Lionesses were cooped up in a small Lyon hotel, awaiting the arrival of the USWNT, who would be staying in the remaining rooms. As Rachel had predicted, both teams were in the semi-final, and preparing to play each other the next morning. So that everyone could remain focused, the coaches of both teams had decided that each player would get their own room.

Despite ignoring all of Kristie’s calls and texts, Rachel wondered how she was doing. Christine’s texts, however, had been vicious. She told Rachel all about how when the tournament was over, she would be waiting for Rachel in Houston. The English player hadn’t seen her again because she’d left to return to America after a few days of Rachel’s silence. 

Of course, though, Kristie Mewis hadn’t returned to America, and Rachel couldn’t ignore the girl forever. She couldn’t even ignore her now, as the USWNT had finally arrived in the densely packed hotel cafeteria. Rachel hadn’t been eating and everyone could see it, so when she picked up an apple and a water for dinner, Millie sighed, unsure of how to help Rachel anymore. Even Kristie’s hair tie, that Rachel still wore on her wrist, was getting to be too loose.

Sat at their table together, Millie asked if Rachel still heard from Christine. 

“Not much since I left the hotel without saying anything. I know she was right angry, but she said she’ll be waiting in Houston when I get back.” Rachel replied. 

“Oh, fuck off,” Millie responded, rolling her eyes. 

“You’ll have to get your lock changed, mate. She’s insane,” Millie said. 

“Sometimes I wish I’d never met her,” Rachel admitted.

“Only sometimes?” Millie laughed, “I always wish you’d never met her; look what she’s done to ya, Rachel. You used to eat and laugh and have a great time with us. Now, it’s like you’re looking over your shoulder thinking she’ll be there with a knife,” Millie said. 

“Probably shouldn’t joke on that one,” Rachel rolled her eyes. 

“That’s not all on her though,” Rachel said, turning to look around the room and find Kristie Mewis laughing at something Lindsey had said. 

“Her too! Absolutely bonkers if you ask me. She had you, it was all nice and great,and then it turns out to be a trick? To get you to lose the World Cup? What a ridiculous thing to do,” Millie replied. 

“Just bad luck, innit?” Rachel asked.

“Suppose so, but we’re going to kick their sorry bums tomorrow, you’ll see,” Millie laughed as Rachel smiled. 

“Now, how about a real dinner? Let’s go, come on,” she said, pulling Rachel to the buffet style line. 

And of course, who but Kristie Mewis would be filling her plate at the very same time, going the other way down the line? Suddenly, Crystal Dunn appeared, and Rachel took a breath, glad someone was there to distract Kristie. 

“Kris, which room are you in again? They’re sending our bags out to our rooms,” Rachel heard Crystal say to Kristie. 

“Oh, um, 412? I think?” the blonde replied in her Boston-accented voice. 

For a split second, Rachel thought nothing of it, until she realized she’d been assigned to room 414, right next door. 

“Oh dear,” Millie said quietly from behind Rachel, probably only for the two of them to hear. 

Aware of how close they were, Rachel was determined to ignore Kristie. She’d come up with a mental list of her own three commandments. 

1\. She would not look at Kristie.

2\. She would not talk to Kristie.

3\. She would not touch Kristie. 

However, she could still feel that the girl was there, a very few feet away. Rachel moved toward her left and Kristie to her right until they were both reaching for the same black serving spoon in the salad bowl. 

Inside of just a few seconds, all three of Rachel’s commandments were broken. Her hand had touched the spoon first, and Kristie, not paying attention, had placed her hand directly on top of the other girl’s. Maybe she didn’t feel the electric-like shock that Rachel felt; the same one she felt the very first time she touched Kristie.

“Oh, sorry,” Kristie said before turning to realize it was Rachel whose hand hers was on top of. 

“Rach,” she whispered as soon as she took in the girl’s features.

Kristie’s eyes immediately snapped back to the girl’s wrist, noticing her own hair tie being worn by Rachel. 

It had been so long since Rachel had heard her name come out of Kristie’s mouth like that that tears began to prick her eyes. 

“Rachel,” Kristie said again, quietly, when Rachel continued to stand still as a statue, unmoving and barely getting breaths in. 

Kristie finally moved her hand, but not to her side. The taller girl reached up toward Rachel’s face and tucked some of Rachel’s blonde hair behind her ear, leaning only a tiny bit closer, wanting to really see Rachel. The shorter girl took a short breath in and moved backwards, finally looking up at Kristie. 

“Good luck tomorrow; you deserve to win,” Rachel said with fire in her tone, then turned to leave the cafeteria. 

“Rachel, wait!” Kristie yelled, but the shorter girl was too far. 

It seemed that Millie hadn’t tried too hard to catch Kristie, because she was on Rachel’s heels all the way to her room. Once inside the room, Rachel closed and locked the door in Kristie’s face and slid down the back of it until she was sat on the floor overcome with tears. 

Kristie knocked at the door, trying to get Rachel to open up, while the shorter girl sobbed. She thought that seeing Kristie again would be hard, but not this hard. Not this heart-wrenching. 

“Please,” Rachel said through her tears, “go away,” she hiccuped. 

While muffled by the door, Kristie could easily hear Rachel. 

The taller girl was too prideful to keep trying, and eventually went back to get her food before returning to her room next door. 

That night, Kristie didn’t call at 8 like she usually did. It was the first night she hadn’t called since Rachel found out about the bet. The shorter girl didn’t want to admit it, but she had slept better the previous nights, knowing that Kristie was at least trying to contact her. Not that it was the right thing to feel, but Rachel almost didn’t want Kristie to give up on her.She’d spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to listen through the wall and see what Kristie was up to in 412, but came up with nothing. 

Around 9:30, Rachel realized she couldn’t sleep no matter how hard she tried. Maybe she’d made the wrong choice by pushing Kristie away, but she tried to keep in mind how much Kristie had hurt her. She remembered the days she spent crying, wondering how something that felt so real could have been so fake. 

Shaking the thought from her head, Rachel was determined not to make a mistake by giving Kristie a second chance. Figuring that light sleep was better than no sleep, she willed her eyes shut and let the darkness fall over her. 

In her dream, Rachel was transported back to that night in Paris, exploring the city with Kristie. She looked over at the girl’s face and smiled, taking in the beauty of not only her date, but the city as well. Suddenly, in the dream, Rachel was in the Seine, drowning in the water. All around her were the people who’d known about the bet: Mal, Lindsey, Kristie, Ali; each of the girls watched as Rachel struggled, gasping for air. As her mouth filled with water in the dream, Rachel screamed for Kristie, which she did, in reality, as well. 

On the other side of the wall, Kristie awoke to Rachel screaming her name. She bolted out of bed and began knocking on the wall that separated them, yelling for the shorter girl. 

“Kristie, help me, please!” Rachel had screamed, still drowning in her nightmare.

“Rachel! Rach, let me in!” Kristie yelled back, unaware that Rachel was dreaming. 

The taller girl banged harder on the wall until Rachel awoke with a gasp. 

“Rach?” Kristie tried again as the commotion stopped. 

“I- I’m fine. Just a nightmare,” Rachel replied shakily, hearing Kristie’s muffled voice through the wall. 

“Please let me in,” Kristie tried, not sure if she really meant physically or mentally.

“It’s fine, I’m okay, go back to sleep, Kristie,” Rachel replied. 

_She didn’t call me Kris or Mewis_ , Kristie thought. _Just Kristie; how awful._

“Okay.” She responded quietly, defeated. 

The next morning arrived, and Rachel woke up hoping that she’d had a nightmare about having a nightmare. 

Unfortunately, however, it had been entirely real, as a text from Kristie read, _hope you’re okay_ , and Rachel wanted to bury herself under a rock and never face anyone ever again. 

But, the game had to happen, which she knew. This was the game Kristie had planned to ruin her into losing. 

Most everyone believed the USWNT were going to win, but Rachel wasn’t going to throw the towel in. She’d focused almost entirely on football since the entire debacle; partially to bury her feelings over what had happened, but also because she wanted to win. 

The shorter blonde knew she was going to play, and most of the team knew what had happened. It seemed everyone had a little extra fire in them during warmups. 

During the game, Rachel knew she was pushing her limits. Since she’d been called up to defend for England, she was on top of Kristie basically the entire time.Aside from the mental awkwardness, Rachel felt downright uncomfortable with even being near the taller girl, which was, inadvertently, giving the USA the advantage. 

“What are you doing? Cover me,” Kristie said as the ball was passed to her. 

Rachel got closer, but still not close enough, as Kristie sent it away in a clean pass closer to the goal. 

“Why aren’t you trying?” Kristie asked, as the ball was whisked far from either of them.

“You’re not allowed to tell me I’m not trying,” Rachel spat out at the taller girl. 

“Fine; that’s fine. Are you okay? You were screaming last night,” Kristie pointed out. 

“Not your problem,” Rachel said, as the ball was passed toward her. 

The shorter girl kept possession of it, but Kristie was certainly trying harder to take it away. Finally, Rachel sent it up the field.

“You were screaming for me; that is my problem. And you’re wearing my hair tie,” Kristie replied.

”Do you want it back? What more can you possibly take, Kristie?” Rachel shot back.   


”No, that’s not what I-“ she began.

“We wouldn’t have a problem if you hadn’t made one in the first place,” Rachel replied. 

Before Kristie could talk again, one of the Lioness players went down on a busted ankle, so everybody grabbed water. Rachel’s coach asked if she was okay, and, unwilling to give up playing time, Rachel said she was, but even she knew it was a lie. She felt weak and was starting to get dizzy from her lack of food intake, but was determined to play. 

“You alright, Rachel?” Millie asked, as they ran back on.

“Yep, I’m fine, let’s go,” Rachel replied, out of breath. 

A few passes later, Rachel was in Kristie’s space again, but this time, even Kristie knew something was wrong. 

“Rach,” she began, reaching out toward the girl as Rachel began to topple over. 

“Rachel!” Kristie yelled as the shorter blonde fainted in the middle of the World Cup semi-final game. 

Kristie knelt down next to Rachel who was unmoving. 

“Get off her,” Millie yelled, but Kristie refused, grabbing Rachel’s hand. 

The medical staff arrived and took Rachel off on a stretcher, and the game continued, but Kristie couldn’t think of anything aside from the missing defender, even when they did win. 


	18. everything i wanted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi you guys!! thank you so much for 9.4K reads; i cannot believe we are close to 10K 🥺 it means so much to me, as do all of your sweet comments!! 💌 i hope you guys enjoy this chapter and thank you for being wonderful!!! 
> 
> chapter title song - everything i wanted by billie eilish

Later that evening, Rachel was sat in room 414, angry beyond belief that she’d allowed such a thing to happen to her. And then they’d _lost_. She couldn’t stop thinking about how things may have gone differently if she’d just been nourished; healthy enough to play the whole game. 

Everyone was obviously gutted that they’d lost, and nearly every other player had already left to return home to England. Rachel, though, hadn’t anticipated the loss the way the other girls had, and she couldn’t get a flight back to Houston until the next week. She considered leaving for another hotel, but this one was already paid for through the week, in case England had gone on to the final.

Her phone had been blowing up for hours with texts and calls from most everybody she knew, congratulating her on a good tournament overall. Though, it didn’t feel like a good tournament for Rachel, who was notoriously hard on herself. Was the loss her fault? No. But, could she have changed the outcome? Maybe, and that maybe had the power to haunt the girl forever.

It was starting to dawn on her that her job was not to be rail thin. In fact, it was anything but. She considered taking her health more seriously, because the pain of losing this World Cup was something that she knew she would never forget. 

What Rachel missed by ignoring her texts was that Millie had sent one saying, _Mewis asked me until I answered, sorry. she knows you’re still here. talk soon, babe. miss you already x_

The blonde glanced at it confusedly until she heard a knock on her door. Peering through the peephole, Rachel watched a delivery person drop off the same meal she’d ordered with Kristie in Paris. 

Her phone buzzed again with a message from Kristie this time, which read, _eat._

Against her better judgement, Rachel took a deep breath and replied, _how do i know it’s not poisoned?_

On the other side of the wall, Kristie rolled her eyes. 

_you know me better than that,_ she replied. 

_no, i don’t think i know you at all,_ Rachel typed back, retrieving the food and eating a few bites in her room. 

After a few minutes, Rachel realized she had tears staining her cheeks, and she heard another knock at the door. Suspecting it was Kristie, she didn’t answer at first, but then she heard Sam’s muffled voice say, “it’s me, Rachel.” 

The shorter girl got up to unlock the door and fell into Sam’s arms as soon as it opened, not even noticing that Ali was next to her. 

“Whoa, whoa, you okay?” Sam asked, as Rachel faintly heard a door opening nearby. 

Kristie, of course, was coming out to see if Rachel had taken the food, and certainly didn’t expect to see the girl crying in Sam’s arms. Ali looked up toward Kristie, and the blonde’s eyebrow furrowed. _Why was Ali comforting Rachel with Sam?_

“I don’t know what to do,” Rachel said, her voice cracking from crying. 

“Let’s go in, come on,” Sam said, as Kristie looked at the three of them, frozen.

_If Rachel doesn’t know what to do, could that mean there’s a chance she’ll speak to me again?_ Kristie thought. She knew Rachel cried; everyone cries, but seeing it happen never stopped hurting Kristie’s heart. 

Sam, Ali, and Rachel made their way into Rachel’s room, sitting down on her bed, as Sam asked what was wrong. 

“S’not important. How come you’re here?” Rachel asked. 

“We overheard some of your teammates saying you were staying behind, and we wanted to see if you wanted to come to our celebration party tonight. I know you’re not on the team, but you shouldn’t have to be alone, so just think about it,” Ali replied. 

“Okay,” Rachel choked out as she began crying again. 

“Oh, honey,” Ali said, pulling Rachel into a hug. 

“How can I ever trust her again?” Rachel asked. 

“Who? What happened?” Sam questioned, as Ali rolled her eyes at the taller girl. 

“Kristie, who else? I love her but we both know whatever happened is because of her,” Ali said back. 

“Hey, you never know; could’ve been someone else for once,” Sam said, trying to lighten the mood. 

“She, um, she sent me one of my favorite meals because... because the reason I fainted during the game is that I don’t eat, unless I have to, and Kristie knows that.” Rachel explained. 

“Rach,” Sam began. 

“I know, I get it, it’s bad. I know. But that’s not what’s on my mind right now. She sent me this for a reason, and it seems like it’s one that’s out of love and care, but why would she do this for me if I was just a bet?” Rachel asked. 

“Rachel...” Ali began, not sure how to explain herself. 

“She sent you food? My sister sent you food? That’s so... sweet?” Sam said. 

“Her heart isn’t made of ice, you know!” Ali defended.

“I know, I’m sorry,” Sam replied.

“Have you talked to her?” Ali asked Rachel, to which the girl shook her head. 

“I don’t think it was just a bet to her. I really don’t, but it’s up to you what you do. That’s just my two cents,” Ali explained.

”What does that mean though?” Rachel inquired.

”I really shouldn’t say more, but just think about talking to her, okay?” Ali asked.

“And you know we are here for you, right? With your eating, I mean?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, yeah, thanks you guys. I think I’d rather just stay in tonight, but I hope you have a good time at the party and congratulations,” Rachel said carefully.

“Are you sure? You don’t have to be alone,” Ali said gently, placing her hand on Rachel’s arm. 

What Ali didn’t know was that Christine had said that to her on so many occasions to try to lure her into doing something she didn’t want to do. 

“I know, but it’s okay,” Rachel said. 

“Well let us know if you change your mind. And like we said, we are here for you, okay?” Sam asked, as the two got you to leave. 

Rachel nodded and saw them out. She knew she should thank Kristie for the food, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Seeing her in person had been more than enough for the past 48 hours, and if she was going to make it through the next week, she was going to have to get creative. 

She decided that she would do things at hours she was certain Kristie wouldn’t, like going for her morning run at 5 am, because Kristie was a late sleeper. Or, getting a tiny dinner at 8, because Kristie ate dinner with her team at 5. 

Rachel’s mind swirled with thoughts surrounding what Ali said. Did she really mean it about Kristie thinking more of Rachel than just a bet? Ali had been Kristie’s roommate for a lot of the time, so it made sense that she would have heard about it. Trying to get Kristie out of her head, Rachel finally fell asleep. 

Dreamless hours passed until her alarm blared at 4:45; her new wake-up and go for a run time. Yawning, Rachel got out of bed and ready, ducking out into the hallway before running directly into a drunk Kristie Mewis. 

“Rachel? You finally came,” She said, more bubbly than usual. 

“What? You’re drunk,” Rachel replied, trying not to gag in response to the overwhelming smell of liquor on Kristie’s breath. 

“You came to the party!” Kristie said, and Rachel realized that the party Ali and Sam were talking about was still going on. 

_It must have started late if it was still happening in the early hours of the morning,_ Rachel thought. 

“Did you eat? I hope you’re eating! I worry about you, you know,” Kristie said, hiccuping. 

“I ate the food you sent,” Rachel said, starting to walk away, sure that Kristie wouldn’t understand anyway. 

“You’re pretty,” Kristie replied, to which Rachel rolled her eyes again. 

“Maybe you should’ve thought of that earlier,” Rachel replied, irritably leaving to go on her run. 


	19. bitter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi you guys!!! thank you SO MUCH for 10K reads 🥺🥂 i really cannot believe it and am so grateful for each one of you!! i hope you enjoy this chapter and dtfo 🧡
> 
> chapter title song - bitter by fletcher

In the following days, Rachel did her very best to avoid the girl, and somehow, was just as lucky with avoiding the nightmares about Kristie. However, she still laid awake each night, thinking everything through. No matter how hard she tried, when Rachel closed her eyes, she was still flooded by the memories of Kristie. 

The very beginning; their flirty banter. 

Walking the streets of Paris, hand in hand. 

Sex that was so fulfilling, Rachel knew she’d never find it again. 

Even the general, calming feeling of safety she had with Kristie was gone, but the taller girl was still trying to look out for her. She’d still sent her a meal; still cared when she had a nightmare. Still went to Sam to ask what to do, and had said enough to Ali to make the brunette believe differently. 

_Quit it! You’re not softening,_ Rachel told herself. _You’re not forgiving her. You can’t,_ she’d think.

But if she’d hated Kristie, really hated her, she’d think more about the bad memories than the good, and that never happened. 

_I wish I could hate you, you beautiful, cruel mystery_ , was Rachel’s last thought before falling into a slumber. 

— 

On the last eve of the tournament, Rachel considered going to see the game. She knew that Sam or anyone else could get her a pass, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to watch Kristie’s dream come true. After all that had gone down, she’d gotten exactly what she wanted. 

However, it was pretty well-known around the league that Rachel had stayed behind while the rest of the English girls had left. What would the fans think if she didn’t go? Especially after Kristie had posted that photo of her, and fans began shipping them together. 

She’d been silent on social media, and comments from fans showed Rachel that they were worried about her. They felt like something was wrong between her and Kristie, and while they didn’t know, Rachel knew they knew. 

It would probably look really good on England if she did go, she decided, so she texted Sam, who, of course, got her a ticket with the other family members and friends. 

And that decision was how Rachel found herself sat next between Pat Johnson and Emma Sonnett as the gaggle of parents, siblings, significant others, and friends cheered louder than any other section in the stadium. Sam leant Rachel a USA shirt, as the girl had nothing to wear, and she fit right in. Kelley O’Hara’s girlfriend asked Rachel if she was dating Kristie, and Rachel wasn’t sure how to answer. 

“Er- no, I suppose not,” she stammered. 

She wasn’t Kristie’s girlfriend anymore, right?

“So, are you a friend of Sam’s?” Pat asked Rachel during halftime. 

“Yeah, something like that. I actually play for England,” Rachel replied. 

“Oh! Oh. Tough loss,” Pat said. 

“Suppose so, yeah. But Sam was nice enough to get me the chance to watch this game, so I’m here,” Rachel said. 

Pat nodded and returned his focus to his wife, and Rachel remembered that she was not particularly good at holding conversations with guys. 

In an instant, Megan Rapinoe made it 1-0 USA, and the crowd was going wild. 

Rachel wanted to feel happy for the team, but she couldn’t help her shred of hope that they’d actually lose to the Netherlands. That would’ve really given Kristie a taste of her own medicine, but on the other hand, Rachel didn’t want Sam to lose. 

Finally, the last few minutes were ticking away on the clock, as Rose Lavelle put away any chance of the Netherlands coming back during the 69th minute. Everybody around Rachel knew that they were going to win the World Cup, and she couldn’t deny it any longer. Kristie had exactly what she wanted, as the final whistle blew. 

Any disdain Rachel carried toward the USA was replaced by pride as soon as she saw Ali, Sam, and the rest of the team hugging each other and celebrating. Rachel supposed that, if any team aside from England had to win, and despite Kristie, she was glad that the USA won because of everyone else that she liked on the team. 

Soon, all of the players were rushing toward her section and finding their most important person as significant others rushed toward the barrier. Kelley’s girlfriend pulled Rachel along with her, but the short blonde knew she didn’t belong. Trying to hang back, it was hard for Rachel to know exactly what was going on, but as Pat’s lips met Sam’s, and the same happened for Zach and Julie, Rachel turned her attention toward the end of the row. In the very last seat had sat a brunette girl who Rachel didn’t recognize, except she knew that the girl had been very loud during the game. 

However, Rachel watched, in what felt like slow motion, as Kristie arrive at the barrier. In a mere second, the brunette girl grabbed for Kristie’s jersey, and pulled her in, kissing her on the lips. Though Rachel couldn’t hear anything in that moment, she knew she’d gasped loudly, and she wasn’t sure if she’d breathed since. 

Sam had just pulled away from Pat, and caught Rachel’s reaction as she looked toward Kristie and saw the very same kiss, still happening. 

The blonde’s eyes widened, as she said, “Rachel,” and the shorter girl felt her heart sink deep into her stomach.  


This was not the time for Sam to have to comfort her, so she looked toward the girl and mouthed congratulations. It seemed that everything around her was buzzing with excitement, but Rachel knew that her world had been turned on its axis. 

She looked back to Kristie once more, and caught her reaction to the kiss. Rachel wasn’t sure, but she thought she read surprise in the way Kristie looked on, before she caught Rachel’s eye. 

Only holding her glance for a second, Rachel turned to get out of the stadium as quickly as she could. Pushing through the crowds, she was grateful that her legs remembered how to function, because she was pretty sure her brain was on autopilot. 

Instead of grabbing an Uber or Lyft or waiting for a bus, Rachel ran the entire way back to the hotel, and once she arrived, she realized she didn’t even really remember the run at all. It was as if she’d blacked out from the time she saw Kristie kiss a random girl to now. _Who was the girl anyway? Nobody seemed to be questioning why she was there like they had with Rachel. Was she a friend? More than a friend? How could she not know who this girl was?_

Realizing she was crying, Rachel laid down in her bed, not caring about how her stomach incessantly growled. _Why should you eat?_ She thought. _You’re never good enough. Not enough to win the World Cup, not enough to win the girl. Not enough ever,_ she thought. 

The tears continued to flow until the girl eventually fell to sleep in the hotel room’s bed. A few hours later, once she awoke, Rachel checked in for her flight which was scheduled for the morning around 5. She only had a few hours left, and probably should have used them to sleep. But after what she’d seen, Rachel felt it was almost impossible to do anything when she knew there was a chance that Kristie was shagging the unknown brunette on the other side of the wall. 

That was until she opened her phone to check Instagram, finding tons of stories of the USWNT partying hard in the hotel ballroom. If Rachel held her breath, she could hear the music pulsing faintly through the hotel walls. It was 1:30 AM, but the USWNT had won the World Cup, after all. 

Figuring this was her safest chance to get out, Rachel quickly packed her remaining belongings and bid farewell to the hotel room which had seen her in many a state. Rachel knew she would be early to the airport, but figured she wasn’t getting any sleep here anyway.She looked into the mirror on the way out and found her eyes red, cheeks puffy, and overall demeanor to be tired. 

Grabbing her bags, Rachel left on the elevator, headed toward the lobby. She knew the ballroom containing the party was across from the concierge, and she rushed to drop her keys and attempt to dash before anyone could see her. She’d text Sam a congratulations later on, but all she wanted now was to get on the plane to Houston.

At the moment Rachel pushes her keys across the desk, she was enveloped in a hug from behind by Ali. 

Gasping, Rachel turned around toward the brunette. 

“I saw you and I wanted to say congratulations on a great tournament,” Ali said, and Rachel could tell she was a little tipsy. 

“Yeah, er- thanks, Ali,” Rachel rushed. 

“See you around in the league?” The girl asked. 

“Mhm, see you later,” Rachel said, turning to leave, until Sam showed up as well, with Kristie and the brunette she’d kissed in tow. 

“Rachel,” Sam began, moving to hug the girl. 

“Sam, I have to go,” Rachel whispered to her as they hugged. 

“Who’s this, Sammy? You have a girlfriend too? Every Mewis is gay nowadays,” Rachel heard the brunette snark behind her, with a clear Boston accent. 

“Watch it, Steph,” Ali said. 

_So her name is Steph_ , Rachel thought. 

“I’m just sayin’,” Steph laughed. 

“Rachie, it’s so good to see you,” Kristie began, drunkenly trying to pull the girl into a hug. 

“Get off me,” Rachel said, frozen in place as Kristie stumbled backwards. 

“What the fuck is your problem?” Steph questioned. 

Rolling her eyes, Rachel turned to grab her bags, attempting to leave yet again. 

“Rachel, I need to talk to you,” Kristie whined, sipping her drink. 

“No; you never need to talk to me again. We’re done talking. We’re done kissing and we’re certainly done fucking. I’d say we’re done loving, too, but apparently we never did in the first place,” Rachel shot back.

“Whoa, what are you talking about?” Kristie asked, seeming to sober up in response to Rachel’s tone. 

“I was never yours in the first place, right? So go on; fuck whoever you want, Kristie. You really do get everything.” Rachel said, walking away. 

“Rachel, wait, can we talk abo-“ she tried. 

“No, we can’t. Congratulations on your win, Kristie. Congratulations on all of your wins,” Rachel said, as a tear rolled down her cheek and she left the hotel, once and for all. 


	20. cherry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi you guys!!! PLEASE READ THIS NOTE!! 😌
> 
> • i just want to say that we made the executive decision to change the villain in this fic from being a person we all know to being an original character because we just felt super bad about writing a real person as such a problematic character, so if you go back and read from the start, you’ll notice that that’s changed (once the archive updates it)!! 
> 
> • thank you so so much for 10.6K reads and for all of the kudos and comments and everything; it means the world!! we are coming down the home stretch of this fic and i hope you all enjoy this chapter (it’s twice as long as usual)!! dtfo 🧡🧡
> 
> chapter title song - cherry by harry styles

Houston wasn’t Rachel’s home. Not really, anyway. Harrogate was, but she had to go home to Houston to complete the rest of the season. The Dash has been supportive, as always, and Rachel has received congratulatory texts from them in their group chat. 

She knew she’d been a little off with her replies, feeling like she didn’t deserve the congratulations. 

_you ok?_ Jane’s text had said. 

_yea, i’m alright. thanks though_ , Rachel replied. 

_let me guess, heartbreak in lyon? a new girl? did she speak french?_ Another team member replied, which received lots of laughing emojis. 

_something like that,_ Rachel responded. 

_oh, sorry, we were just joking, but here if you need me,_ Jane responded. 

While waiting in the airport, Rachel noticed she had an Instagram message as well. 

_sorry you guys lost, baby, see you when you’re back_ , Christine’s reply had said when Rachel posted her boarding pass on her Instagram story. The shorter girl knew that being called baby was a weakness of her own, and Christine knew it too. True to her word, Christine was waiting for Rachel with a bouquet of flowers in the International Arrivals section of the airport. 

“Chris,” Rachel said, unsure of how to go about the surprise. 

“Great job, my love,” Christine replied, pulling the girl into a hug. 

The duality of Christine never failed to amaze Rachel. The girl could be vicious one moment and sweet the next, which put Rachel very much on edge. They’d fizzled out, Rachel knew, and Christine had been a little too pushy for her liking back in France. However, something comforted Rachel about being back in Houston with Christine, as if the entire World Cup/Kristie Mewis Double Loss Mess hadn’t ever happened at all. Maybe she could return to this; get used to be back in a semi-simple little life where she and Christine fought like people who are dating do. 

Rachel also knew, even if only minutely, that it would piss Kristie off to see her with Christine, and that same part of her knew deep down that she wanted Kristie to realize she was indispensable. 

Some part of her wished she could go back to barely noticing Kristie on the field, but she was aware that it would never be the same. 

Christine was quiet on the car ride home, and Rachel knew something was wrong. 

“You alright?” Rachel asked, looking over at the girl. 

“Yeah, I’m good, just.. what was it like with her?” Christine asked.

“Chris,” Rachel drawled.

“I just want to know, Rach; you’re never intimate with me so I want to know what made you feel like she was the one to do that with,” Christine argued.

“I’d really rather not discuss it,” Rachel replied, to which Christine nodded. 

The two headed back to Rachel’s apartment and settled in for the evening, with Rachel’s sleep schedule entirely battered from jet lag. 

—

A few hours later in Boston, a tall, leggy blonde was returning to her family with her sister and best friend in tow. The three had mostly slept through their flights after their party the evening before. 

“That was one hell of a tournament!” Steph commented as they arrived at the Mewis household. 

Sam and Kristie’s parents had been over the moon to receive the girls, their newly awarded World Champions. With Kristie’s flight to Houston the next day, their family time was, as always, limited. 

“Kristie, we saw a photo of you on Instagram with the forward from the Dash. Rachel something?” Her mother commented. 

“Oh, making friends with your new teammates?” Her father commented. 

“Yeah, uh.. something like that,” Kristie replied. 

After spending 24 hours relaxing at home, Kristie was packing multiple suitcases. Still, nobody in the NWSL world knew she was leaving the Breakers. 

As her flight landed in Houston, Kristie took a deep breath and made her way to the hotel where she’d be staying for the next few days. After that, she would be assigned a roommate. Knowing she was in the same city as Rachel put Kristie on edge; half of her wanted to see the girl and half of her wanted to pretend she didn’t even know Rachel. 

The next morning, Kristie geared up for practice in her usual shorts and sports bra, but traded in her Boston Breakers tee for the orange Houston Dash one that had been sent to her home in Boston. Once she arrived at the stadium, the rest of her new teammates were already stretching, and Kristie saw Rachel before even noticing anyone else. 

_She is so beautiful_ , Kristie thought. 

“Ladies, this is our new teammate, who you might know from kicking our asses on the Boston Breakers. Welcome, Kristie,” the coach announced to the team as the whole group of girls turned to look at her. 

“Hi,” Kristie said, feeling embarrassed. 

“What?” Rachel piped up, and all heads turned to stare at her instead. 

“No, I’m- I’m having a nightmare,” Rachel said.

“I’m sorry?” The coach questioned. 

Jane Campbell looked between the two, alongside most of the teammates. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?!” Rachel quipped. 

“Rachel,” Jane said, concerned that Rachel would offend Kristie. 

“Why are you on my field?!” Rachel continued, yelling at Kristie now. 

“Rach,” Kristie began. 

“No, don’t Rach me! Did you know you were coming here?!” Rachel argued, walking up to the girl. 

To this, Kristie had no reply. She did know, and she was planning to tell Rachel on the night that she found out about the bet, before Christine came to town and everything fell apart. 

“Well?!” Rachel questioned. 

“I knew,” Kristie whispered. 

“When?” Rachel replied, her voice softening at Kristie’s tone. 

“Does it matter?” Kristie tried. 

“When?” Rachel repeated. 

“The night Christine came to town, right after the game when you wore my jersey,” Kristie answered quietly. 

“Unbelievable,” Rachel said. 

“I wanted to tell you; I was going to tell you that night, I swear,” Kristie responded. 

“And I’m just supposed to believe that?!” Rachel answered.

“Rachel, what’s going on? This isn’t like you,” Jane questioned. 

“Ladies, we need to get practice started,” their coach interjected. 

“This is the girl from Lyon,” Rachel said, to which a few teammates gasped and others’ eyes widened. 

“Good luck having another good practice ever again with her here,” Rachel replied before walking out onto the field with the other girls. 

— 

The next day, their practice went just about as poorly as before, with Kristie playing just as well as Rachel and irritating the girl by doing so. The coaches were thrilled to have a new player who commanded the field, but everyone on the team seemed put off by it. Kristie felt incredibly uncomfortable, as it seemed that the entire team hated her because Rachel hated her. 

“Kristie, we need cohesion on this team. I think you are a great prospect and I think that you’d fit really well here. But, the team doesn’t seem to receive you that way, and I don’t care to know why, but it needs to stop,” the coach said to Kristie, who’d been called into his office after practice. 

Rachel was still shooting on the field, and Kristie wondered if she stayed late every day. 

“I understand,” Kristie said, unsure of how to answer.

Was she in trouble for Rachel hating her? Why wasn’t Rachel being spoken to?

“Maybe it isn’t your fault, but I have no choice but to do what I think is right for the team,” the coach said. 

Kristie held her breath, ready to hear that she would be traded yet again. Half of the teams in the league were here previous teams, and Houston would be another to add to the list. 

The coach called Rachel into his office, and as the girl entered the room, Kristie continued her conversation with him as if she wasn’t there. 

“Am I moving to another team?” Kristie questioned. 

“God, I hope so,” Rachel said under her breath. 

“Not yet,” the coach responded, glaring at Rachel. 

“Not yet?” the two replied in unison. 

“You’ll be moving in with Rachel this weekend.” He started. 

“What?!” Rachel responded. 

“Rachel, your housing is provided by the Dash. It’s up to us whether or not you have a roommate. Kristie, if things don’t improve, we will search for another home team for you within the NWSL. It’s up to Rachel to change her attitude toward you, and it’s our hope that once she does, the rest of the team will too. As roommates, you two will have to work together off the field, so maybe you can learn how to do so on it too,” he responded. 

_I’m not sure if this is worse or better than being traded_ , Kristie thought. 

“This is a load of shit,” Rachel angrily replied, storming back off to the field.

—

The weekend came quickly, almost as quickly as Rachel left the apartment on Friday night, texting Kristie that the door was unlocked and that she wouldn’t be back until Sunday. Though it hadn’t been her fault, Rachel felt like she had to compensate for the Dash’s decision to move Kristie in with her after Christine freaked out about it. 

Thus, Kristie found herself alone in Rachel’s apartment, on a Friday night, while the shorter blonde was away on Galveston Island, trying to make amends with her girlfriend.Kristie felt so out of sorts, placing her groceries in Rachel’s fridge and Rachel’s cabinets. 

The wall was littered with photos of Rachel and Christine that Christine had demanded be put up before Kristie’s arrival. Rachel couldn’t have imagined the fight about Kristie moving in being as bad as it had been. At one point, Christine even encouraged Rachel to leave the Dash; something she would never choose to do. 

Bringing her few things in on her own, Kristie assumed that the bedroom with nothing but a bed in it was hers. Rachel hadn’t been very welcoming, and Kristie didn’t blame her. She put her clothes away first, and then decided to put up a few photos she’d brought of her with Sam, her parents, and some friends. Outside of her bedroom, Kristie knew she was living in Rachel’s apartment, but inside, she was determined to have her own space. 

Kristie gave herself a tour of the apartment, noting that Rachel had a ton of cooking utensils, and wondering if she’d ever mentioned that she liked to cook. While she knew she was alone in the apartment, Kristie felt safest in her own bedroom with the door closed. She spent most of her time there until a loud slam awoke her around 3 am. 

Gasping, Kristie watched as the hallway lights flickered on from underneath her door. Had she remembered to lock the door? Staying silent, Kristie looked around, trying to figure out what she could use to fend off an intruder. She glanced over to find a shadow of two feet standing on the other side of her door.Within seconds, though, she heard familiar voices yelling. 

“Shes probably in there right now, wearing your clothes!” Kristie identified as Christine’s voice ringing through the apartment. 

“Why would she do that?!” Rachel yelled back, and Kristie knew Rachel was closer.

Rachel had to be the one standing in front of her door. 

“Because she’s in love with you?! How dim do you have to be to not see that, Rachel?!” Christine yelled.

“I’m not dim; don’t call me that!” Rachel fought back. 

“Let me go check for myself then,” Christine yelled, and Kristie watched as the shadows moved in front of her door. 

“Get off of it,” Rachel argued. 

“Why are you trying to protect her?! I’m trying to protect us,” Christine yelled. 

“There’s nothing to protect; we’re fine!” Rachel tried. 

“We’re nothing?! Fine, go and fuck her then. I don’t care,” Christine said, turning and slamming the front door. 

Kristie didn’t realize she was crying until she tried to take a silent breath in, but it came out as strangled. 

Maybe Rachel heard her and maybe she didn’t, but eventually the shadow moved away from Kristie’s door and turned out the hall light, as both girls fell into a very restless slumber. 

— 

When she awoke the next morning, Kristie felt extremely uncomfortable knowing she was in the same space as Rachel. Knowing that Rachel didn’t want her around was something that she had no one but herself to blame for. But, she felt she had a better chance of staying on the Dash if she stayed out of Rachel’s way as much as she could. 

Running into the shorter girl wasn’t something she wanted to do at all, and she wondered if she could get away with staying in her room the entire day through. She’d be hungry, though, and thirsty too. Maybe she could wait until she heard the front door open and close to leave the room when Rachel was out? But how long would she be gone? She could just be going to get the mail. 

Kristie tried to stay secluded and quiet, and succeeded until Rachel texted her around 2 pm. 

_are you here?_ is all it said. 

Understandably, Kristie felt that the shorter girl must have been wondering if she was alone or not. 

_yes_ , Kristie replied. 

Rachel didn’t reply, but Kristie heard the girl open the front door. Running to her window, she saw Rachel exiting the complex on a run. Kristie turned around nearly instantly, and ran to the kitchen to make something to eat, cooking as quickly as she could while keeping an eye on the window. 

Rachel wasn’t gone long, and Kristie didn’t have time to wash her dishes, so she grabbed what she had and a snack for later before closing and locking herself back into her bedroom for the rest of the night. She knew Rachel didn’t want her there, and she was determined to be as invisible as she could. 

The same thing happened the next day, and Kristie wondered how long she could keep this up.

— 

Monday morning, Kristie awoke extremely early, lacing up her sneakers and heading toward the stadium to run before practice on her own. She tiptoed out of the apartment, careful to make as little noise as possible as she closed the door. 

Stopping by a coffee shop on the way, Kristie grabbed her coffee along with a smoothie and multiple pastries and sandwiches she would save in the locker room’s fridge that she could take back to the apartment later.

—

By the time Rachel woke up, Kristie was already running laps on the field. However, the taller girl had left no note, and Rachel had only to assume that she was already on the field. Knowing someone would be on the field, Rachel texted the team group chat, which Kristie was not in. 

_ is anybody at bbva yet? who’s there? _

To which Jane replied, _just me and Mewis - i can come pick u up if u want?_

_i’m alright, thanks though_ , Rachel replied. 

The shorter blonde locked the front door behind her and made her way to the front of the building when she spotted Christine waiting to open the passenger door for her.

“M’lady,” Christine said, as Rachel got in.

“You’re... driving me to practice?” Rachel questioned.

“Well of course I am, baby! I love you!” Christine replied. 

_Are we just going to pretend we didn’t have a huge fight?_ Rachel thought. 

“Your safety matters to me, baby,” Christine said, leaning over to kiss Rachel at a stoplight. 

“Yeah, you too,” Rachel replied, trying to force a smile.

Maybe if she tried hard enough, she would believe that everything was okay between her and Christine. 

As they pulled up to the stadium, Christine invited herself in to watch the practice; something she’d never done before. Rachel met up with Jane on the field, and ignored that Kristie was only ten feet away. 

“Your girl here to support?” Jane asked, waving to Christine, who exaggeratedly waved back. 

“Suppose so,” Rachel replied, knowing that she’d probably be better off to talk to Jane or any of her other teammates about how things really were between her and Christine. 

“She’s sweet, you know. Good for you, good to you. Way better than someone who never actually cared about you,” Jane said.

Kristie tried not to hear them gloat aboutChristine, and she tried not to hear them put her down, but the words hurt no matter how far away she was. She knew that at this rate, Houston Dash wouldn’t become her home in the NWSL after all, since everybody hated her. 

After practice, Kristie got dressed with the rest of the girls in the locker room while they laughed and joked together, not a soul making an attempt to include her. 

_Maybe I do deserve this,_ Kristie thought. 

Though practice had been long and strenuous, Kristie had no choice but to walk back to the apartment. She couldn’t ask a teammate for a ride, and she didn’t want the team to watch her catch an Uber. 

Walking out of the stadium to start her walk, Kristie’s eyes met Christine’s, who was talking to Rachel outside of her car. As soon as Christine saw her, she pulled Rachel into her and began making out with the shorter girl. 

Feeling her heart ache, Kristie put her headphones on and walked home, trying anything to get the image of Rachel kissing another girl out of her mind. By the time Kristie made it back to the apartment, Christine’s car was gone, but the taller girl heard the television as soon as she opened the front door. 

Before Rachel could see her, Kristie turned and went into her bedroom, closing and locking the door. 

Unexpectedly, her phone blared with an incoming call from Ali, and cursing its volume, she answered.

“How’s it going in H-town, baaaabe?” Ali asked over the phone. 

“It’s... kinda horrible,” Kristie answered honestly, but quietly. 

“Wait, really? I thought... never mind; what happened?” Ali asked, more seriously. 

“I-“ Kristie began before her own sobs cut her off. 

“Oh, honey,” she heard Ashlyn soothe across the line. 

“Do you guys think- that- think that Orlando would take m-me?” Kristie said through hiccups as she cried. 

“It’s so bad that you want to come here?!” Ali asked. 

“Hey!” Ashlyn replied. 

“I mean, no, no hate, but even Houston scores more than we do,” Ali reasoned. 

“Kristie, what’s going on?” Ashlyn asked. 

“Everyone hates me here; I’m going to get kicked off the team,” Kristie said, still crying. 

“Kicked off the team?!” Ali and Ashlyn replied in unison, as Kristie heard a knock at the front door followed by a knock on her door. 

“I’ll- I’ll text you guys about it. I feel like I have to go. I love you, okay?” Kristie asked.

“Yeah, we love you; always here for you,” Ali said, as they hung up. 

Sniffling, Kristie laid down on the floor to see if Rachel was on the other side of the bedroom door, and she was. Kristie jumped as Rachel knocked again on the door. Taking a deep breath, and knowing she was puffy and red from crying, Kristie opened it, taking in Rachel’s sharp features. 

Kristie noticed that Rachel had a box from Pro-Flowers, and she handed it to the taller girl, saying, “this came for you.”

“Thanks,” Kristie said, though her voice came out like more of a hiccup. 

“Do you, like.. want something to eat? Or drink?” Rachel asked when Kristie didn’t immediately close the door. 

“No, thanks. I’m fine,” Kristie said. 

“Alright..” Rachel answered, very unconvinced, as Kristie closed the door again.

—

The rest of the week remained the same; Kristie would eat only when Rachel wasn’t at home, and would avoid seeing the girl at all costs. However, by Friday, the snide remarks from her teammates were truly beginning to wear Kristie down. 

Each day, she’d woken up anxious, crying about having to go to practice. She wasn’t doing as well as she had at the beginning, and nobody would pass to her. One way or another, she knew she would be let go from the team. Nobody knows you’re good if you never have the ball. 

Kristie wondered how Christine was able to miss so many practices, until she heard from Ali and Ashlyn that the Pride weren’t even practicing either. In the locker room, Kristie heard another teammate mutter that they wouldn’t even be there if it wasn’t for her.Were the coaches so concerned with her cohesion that they were scheduling unnecessary practices? 

The eye rolls and glares beat Kristie down more and more each day. She knew she came off cold hearted, but inside, she wanted a close group of friends. She wanted teammates who she worked well with. She wanted a family and a home away from her own, because being traded away was never her choice. 

After Friday’s practice, Kristie walked into the coach’s office and negotiated her own status; transfer papers in hand. She didn’t want to stay in Houston anymore, and if it meant she would play in a different country, it didn’t even matter to her, because Houston wasn’t home either. 

“We haven’t signed anything,” the coach said. 

“Exactly, so I’ll talk to my manager and get in touch with the people I know around the league and we can figure out where I can go,” Kristie replied. 

“I truly believe you have a great talent, Kristie,” he returned. 

“Yeah, you’ve seen so much of it,” she scoffed.

“I don’t want to give it up, and neither should you. We have an incredible staff here, and you’re the only National Team player. You could really shine on this team; the fans will love you,” he argued. 

“It doesn’t matter; I want out,” Kristie responded. 

“The team already discussed it; we want you to stay. I’m sorry; I can’t sign off on this paperwork.” The coach replied. 

“You- they- what?” Kristie answered.

“Rachel was in here earlier today; she told us that she’s worried about you.” He said, to which Kristie’s jaw opened, her lips forming an O. 

“She what?” Kristie breathed. 


	21. my boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiii you guys!!! thank you SO much for 11.4K reads; that is absolutely crazy to me!! i really appreciate it and all of the comments and kudos and all that you guys do!! if you think this chapter is full of drama then just wait until next week’s update 👀 i hope y’all enjoy and dtfo!! 🧡
> 
> chapter title song - my boy by billie eilish

“We shouldn’t have held your membership here over your head like that, and I apologize. I want you to be at home here, and we all want this to work. She told us that you never eat anything and she’s worried about you,” he responded. 

“She told you that I don’t eat?” Kristie scoffed. 

“Look, Kristie, I don’t know what transpired between you and Rachel before you got here, but you could be a great asset to this team, and that can’t happen if you two hate each other.” He said. 

“But I-“ Kristie began.

“We heard from Orlando; we know that you have contacts there and we know they want you, but we aren’t ready to give you up. Please, just make an effort, okay?” He asked.

Kristie couldn’t believe her ears, and hoped that Rachel was given the same lecture. It wasn’t that she’d been rude to any of the Dash players; she’d messed up with Rachel, sure, but the players hadn’t even given her the chance to be rude. 

Silently, Kristie nodded and walked out of the office back to the apartment, calling Ali and Ashlyn to update them on her way. As soon as she walked into the apartment, though, she was done with hiding away to make life easier for Rachel. She walked inside and threw her bag onto the floor, then proceeded to make herself dinner in the kitchen.   


Rachel was sitting on their balcony that Kristie hadn’t even realize noticed was there, and she didn’t notice Kristie in the kitchen until the taller blonde started banging pots and pans unnecessarily to make her presence known.

Hearing the noise, Rachel walked back in and was almost surprised to see Kristie before her. 

“You alright?” She hesitantly asked. 

“Oh, I don’t know; maybe you should ask yourself since you seem to know everything about me!” Kristie replied. 

“What are you on about?” Rachel questioned. 

“Why couldn’t you just let me go?!” Kristie asked. 

“I don’t know what you mean,” Rachel tried. 

“Orlando wanted me; they would have taken me, but you made it so that I have to stay here on a team where everybody hates me and I’m miserable,” Kristie argued. 

“I was looking out for you!” Rachel yelled back, walking toward the girl.

“Why?! Why do you give a fuck about me at all?!” Kristie returned. 

“Orlando’s not right for you and you know it,” Rachel muttered. 

“But this is?! You’ve made it clear that you don’t want me here, Rachel,” Kristie said, walking even closer. 

“You’re the one who made it clear that you don’t want me at all!” Rachel replied.

“I never said that! You wouldn’t listen to me!” Kristie replied. 

“You kissed someone else!” Rachel said. 

“Steph?! She’s my best friend; she’s kissed me for years.” Kristie responded.

“That‘s  not normal!” Rachel tried.

“You’re mad at me for kissing someone else?! You’ve been kissing someone else this whole time,” Kristie said. 

“That’s not fair-“ Rachel replied.

“No, Rachel, what’s not fair is that you’ve treated me like shit since I got here and now your entire team hates me, but you haven’t even given me the chance to explain everything, and you won’t let me leave!” Kristie said. 

“Go on then; talk your way out of it,” Rachel rolled her eyes, whispering as she was now mere inches away from the taller girl. 

Kristie wanted more than anything to just press her lips onto Rachel’s, knowing that the shorter girl wouldn’t be this close if she wasn’t thinking the same. However, as soon as Kristie got close enough, a loud knock sent the two quickly away from each other. Kristie hurried into her room, abandoning her meal, while Rachel opened the door to reveal Christine. 

Trying to make her breathing even again, Kristie thought about how close she was to kissing the girl. Through the door, though, Kristie heard Christine’s voice. 

“What were you making?” She heard the girl ask.

“Um... chicken?” Rachel said, unconvincingly. 

“You weren’t cooking, were you? It was that horrible bitch, wasn’t it? Was she cooking for you?!” Christine began to yell.

“No, she wasn’t, and she’s not a bitch,” Rachel defended. 

“She shouldn’t even be here.” Christine began. 

“She’s my teammate,” Rachel tried. 

“And she wouldn’t be if you did what I said and quit the Dash,” Christine argued. 

“But I love the-“ Rachel started. 

Suddenly, there was a loud crash, and Kristie heard Rachel yelp. From inside her bedroom, she stopped herself from running out to check on the girl, as it was as silent as midnight out there.

“Please be okay,” Kristie whispered, hoping not to hear anything else. 

“Christine,” Rachel muttered.

“I- I didn’t mean to-“ Christine said quietly. 

“But you-“ Rachel tried.

“Don’t be such a baby, Rachel. I didn’t do anything to you.” Christine snapped. 

“Okay... I’m going to.. go to the bathroom,” Rachel said quietly, making her way closer to the restroom which was near Kristie’s bedroom. 

As she heard the footsteps get closer, Kristie cracked the door open to reveal Rachel’s tear stained face. 

“Are you okay?” The taller girl whispered.

“I don’t know,” Rachel replied, walking into the bathroom. 

—

Later that night, Kristie found herself still pressed against her door, listening in on Rachel and Christine’s conversations. She knew Rachel was being short with the girl, and was subtly suggesting that she wasn’t okay. Christine, however, didn’t seem to care. Once Kristie knew they’d gone to bed, she figured Christine would be staying the whole night.

On the other side of the apartment, in Rachel’s room, the short blonde looked toward her wrist, where Kristie’s hair tie laid. No matter how hard she tried to sleep, she couldn’t get over what had happened earlier. It kept replaying over and over in her mind; Christine picking up the dishes that Kristie had out and throwing them at the shorter girl, then watching them shatter around her feet. 

After, Christine hadn’t apologized, and hadn’t even really seemed to think anything was wrong. But if she was willing to throw something at Rachel, what would she do next? 

Rachel knew in the back of her mind that Kristie would have never treated her this way. She’d hurt her emotionally, yes, but she knew the girl would never ever hurt her physically. Maybe she could consider hearing what the girl had to say about the bet. 

As Rachel eventually fell into sleep, her dreams were filled with remnants of the night with Christine. Everything played over again in her mind, and once again, her nightmare caused her to yell for help from Kristie. 

“Kristie! Kristie!!” Rachel screamed, until she was shaken awake by the wrong girl; her wrists in Christine’s hands. 

Christine was above her, glaring down at Rachel, as she said, “unbelievable.” 

“Christine, I-“ Rachel tried. 

“No, Rachel, I’ve had it with this shit,” Christine seethed.

Rachel took a shallow breath and clamped her eyes shut, prepared for whatever Christine was planning to do when she heard their bedroom door swing open and hit the wall. 

“Get the fuck off of her,” Kristie said. 


	22. i’ve told you now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi you guys!!! thank you SO much for 12.2K reads; i am literally so astonished by all the love for this story!! also i can’t believe this is the second to last chapter!! i hope you guys enjoy it and happy game day!!! dtfo 🧡
> 
> chapter title song - i’ve told you now by sam smith

“Get the fuck out of here,” Christine seethed toward Kristie. 

“No,” Kristie replied, looking like she was ready to take Christine down. 

Peeling herself off of Rachel, Christine stood, walking over to Kristie. 

“What do you know about me anyway? You weren’t even polite enough to be friendly when we were on the same team, then you go and win the World Cup and steal my girlfriend while you’re there? What kind of a monster are you?” Christine glared. 

“Wow, thanks for the congratulations; I can see now that you weren’t called up because of your attitude, not your skill.” Kristie replied calmly. 

“You bitch-“ Christine began as she threw out her hands toward Kristie before Rachel held her back. 

“You can’t have her! She loves me!” Christine yelled while Rachel tried to pull her away. 

“She doesn’t love you. She’s afraid of you,” Kristie responded. 

“Why would she be afraid of me? Even all her friends can see how good I am to her; I drove her to practice, I come over to spend time with her, I picked her up from the airport,” Christine listed, until Kristie butted in.

“You encouraged her eating disorder, you threw cookware at her, you tried to guilt trip her into having sex with you, oh, and let’s not forget how you were about to hit her if I hadn’t walked through the door,” Kristie said. 

“That’s not true! Maybe I have some issues too, but I would never abuse anyone,” Christine argued.

“She’s literally holding you back from lunging at me right now.” Kristie said. 

“You deserve it!” Christine tried. 

“I deserve what? To be hit? No way, bitch.Nobody deserves violence, and by your logic, Rachel deserved to skip meals. She deserved to be pressured into sex she didn’t want. She deserved to cower in fear of you, is that right?” Kristie asked. 

“Well, you don’t know how much she upset me! You don’t know what she did to deserve those things!” Christine argued.

“No, I don’t know what she’s done to upset you. But I do know that no act deserves to be punished the way you’ve been punishing her for all this time. It doesn’t matter how bad, you don’t fucking touch someone like that. And all she ever did was try to make it work with you, but you’ll see, Christine. Rachel deserves better. She deserves someone who loves her, and you don’t. You love controlling her. And, as someone who lives here, I’m asking you to leave.” Kristie smirked. 

“You can’t make me go; I’m her girlfriend!” Christine said, becoming free of Rachel’s grasp. 

The statement hung in the air as the two girls looked to Rachel for some sort of reassurance that one of them was right. 

“She’s right,” Rachel said, to neither girl in particular. 

“See! She does love me, Kristie!” Christine shouted, her voice breaking. 

“No, Christine.” Rachel replied. 

“What?” The two girls replied. 

“Kristie’s the one who’s right; I am afraid of you.” Rachel admitted. 

“Rachel, what are you talking about?! I love you! I know everything about you!” Christine begged.

“When I was little, what did I want to be when I grew up?” Rachel asked quietly. 

“Um, a soccer player?” Christine replied. 

“Kristie?” Rachel asked, shaking her head. 

“An astronaut,” Kristie smiled fondly. 

“That’s not fair!” Christine tried. 

“What‘s guaranteed to make me laugh?” Rachel asked, gaining confidence. 

“Uh.. cat videos??” Christine answered, to which Rachel shook her head again and turned toward Kristie. 

“Squeezing your sides,” Kristie answered, and Rachel nodded.

“How would I know that?! How does she know that?!” Christine asked Rachel, becoming more and more upset. 

“Where am I from?” Rachel asked, with a finality to her tone.

“London! It’s obviously London,” Christine said. 

“Harrogate,” Kristie mumbled, knowing she knew Rachel better. 

“Christine,” Rachel began.

“No, don’t you dare tell me we’re over! I did so much for you! We have chemistry!” Christine said.

“Get out of here; she wouldn’t even let you touch her,” Kristie said, rolling her eyes. 

“I bet you couldn’t even please her!” Christine accused.

“Oh, honey, I pleased her. And even if I hadn’t, I had the chance to, which is more than you ever got!” Kristie laughed. 

“Rachel!” Christine whined.

“Go,” Rachel said, as she walked Christine to the door. 

“You’ll regret this!” The girl promised as she walked through the threshold. 

“No, I won’t. But you’ll regret treating me the way you did,” Rachel promised, as she closed the door on her now ex-girlfriend. 

The shorter girl turned around with tears in her eyes to find Kristie had followed her out of the bedroom to make sure Christine left. Neither said a word for the first few minutes until Kristie held her hand out to the shorter girl. Hesitantly, Rachel took it, and Kristie pulled her in for a hug. 

They stood that way for a few moments, wrapped up in each other, until Rachel finally whispered. 

“I want to hear your side of the story.” 

Still holding the other girl’s hand, Kristie led the two to her room, unsure if Rachel would still want to be in her own bed after what had just gone down.

“Come lie down,” Kristie said softly, as she did it herself.

“Are you sure?” Rachel hesitated. 

“Yes, of course,” Kristie answered. 

Eventually, Rachel did as such, and the two were facing each other in the dim light of Kristie’s lamp while the clock on the table read 3:34 AM. 

“I’m sorry I hurt you. I know you must think it was all just a mean joke, but you were never a joke to me, Rach. I got caught up in the game, in winning, and yeah, soccer is important, but in doing that, I lost something else important to me. And that was you.” Kristie said.

Rachel seemed to think on her words for a few minutes, and Kristie worried that the girl would never reply. 

“You knew it was a bet the very first time you spoke to me?” Rachel asked, to which Kristie could only nod. 

“You could’ve just told me what happened..” Rachel tried. 

“I was going to... that night that Christine came. I was going to tell you everything; even about Houston.” Kristie replied. 

“I still can’t believe you kept that from me,” Rachel responded. 

“I couldn’t get through to you,” Kristie said softly. 

“Maybe it was better off this way... because Christine would’ve bitten my head right off in thinking of your arrival,” Rachel said. 

Kristie didn’t know how to respond, so she remained quiet. 

“You said I had an eating disorder,” Rachel whispered. 

“You do. Or, you did. I don’t know now; it seems like you eat, but you’re rail thin,” Kristie said, reaching out to touch the other girl. 

To Kristie’s touch, Rachel didn’t recoil like she did with Christine’s. 

“I could count your ribs, Rachie,” Kristie said quietly.

“She did a number on me,” Rachel admitted. 

“I can help you look for someone to see about this, you know,” Kristie replied, to which Rachel nodded. 

“Maybe in the morning,” Rachel said, as she began to get up out of Kristie’s bed. 

“Rach, wait,” Kristie said. 

Frozen, Rachel turned back to her.

“Would you stay?” Kristie asked. 

“I was so hoping you’d ask,” Rachel smiled. 


	23. deep end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi you guuuuys!!! i have so many things to say, so here’s a list:  
> 1\. KRISTIE GOT HER CALL UP AND I’M JUST THRILLED AND OVER THE MOON!!!! this is so deserved and i will never stop talking about it!!  
> 2\. i know i said that this is the Final Chapter of deep end, and it was true when i said it, buuut i am going to post a smutty bonus chapter next week! if smut isn’t your thing, then this is the last chapter for you!  
> 3\. a couple people have been asking for another dewis story so i am going to be writing another one!! look out for that soon!  
> 4\. i just wanna say a massive massive thank you to everyone who’s enjoyed this story and left comments and kudos and literally everything y’all do. some people have genuinely commented on every chapter and that just means so so much to me!! thank you to you guys and thank you to my favorite best friend, whom without, i couldn’t have written this! see y’all next week and dtfo 🧡
> 
> chapter title song - deep end by birdy

The next morning, Rachel awoke in Kristie’s arms and breathed a deep sigh of relief. It hadn’t been a dream after all. Christine was really gone and Kristie had really asked her to stay. 

“Rach,” Kristie mumbled in her sleep, to which Rachel smiled.

“Rachie, please,” Kristie whimpered, and Rachel realized Kristie wasn’t awake. 

Her cheeks flushed red at the tone of Kristie’s voice, realizing that the last time she’d been in the girl’s arms like this was likely when they had sex. 

Should she wake Kristie? Or... or let the girl finish her dream? A short moan escaped Kristie’s lips and Rachel twisted around, dying to see her face. 

Gasping, Kristie awoke and met Rachel’s eyes; her pupils dilated and her cheeks red. 

“Morning,” Rachel smirked. 

“Oh my god. How much did I say?” Kristie squeaked out. 

“Rachie, oh Rach,” Rachel teased, imitating the taller girl. 

“Fuck off,” Kristie said, squeezing Rachel’s sides as they both laughed. 

“This is nice,” Rachel said after a beat of silence had passed. 

“Yeah, I- I like this. Us, here, in bed,” Kristie replied. 

“Right; I think you really like us in bed,” Rachel teased again.

“Stooooop,” Kristie whined, smiling. 

“You’re the one who-“ Rachel began.

“That’s enough,” Kristie laughed. 

“Rach,” Kristie asked, beginning to get up from bed.

“Yeah?” Rachel replied.

“Get your ass up,” Kristie said, “I want to take you on a real date.” 

—

Hand in hand, Kristie led Rachel to a table next to the window in the cafe she’d been visiting. 

“I can’t believe you’ve been grabbing food from some coffee shop when I could have made us healthy food at the apartment,” Rachel said.

“I didn’t want to be an inconvenience to you,” Kristie admitted. 

“So you hid from me instead of talking about it?” Rachel questioned. 

“I was being dramatic,” Kristie said, rolling her eyes.

“You? Dramatic? I never would’ve guessed.” Rachel smirked sarcastically. 

As the two looked at the menus, Rachel began to ask Kristie what she could eat, but before finishing her sentence, Kristie cut her off. 

“Yes; whatever it is, yes. Eat it, order three of it, I don’t care. You don’t need my permission to nourish your body,” Kristie answered. 

“She was awful, wasn’t she?” Rachel asked rhetorically, alluding to Christine. 

“Beyond awful.” Kristie answered. 

The two ate and chatted, asking questions about the weeks they’d missed of each others’ lives since they last really talked. 

“You went home, right? To Boston?” Rachel asked. 

“Yeah, how did you-“ Kristie began, until she realized.

“Sam,” they both smiled. 

“My uh- my parents know about you,” Kristie blushed. 

Rachel’s eyebrows rose.

“Yeah, they saw a picture of us and they kinda asked questions? It was pretty awkward, but I have a feeling they’ll be happy to meet you one day,” Kristie said. 

Rachel’s heart did a little somersault at the idea of being welcomed into the Mewis family. 

“I’d really like that,” Rachel smiled.

“You still havemy hair tie,” Kristie pointed out. 

“It’s been on this whole while, hasn’t it? I think I kept it because part of me really hoped it wasn’t all a bet to you,” Rachel answered. 

“I’m really sorry-“ Kristie began.

“Kris, stop apologizing, alright? I forgive you; it’s okay. I probably shouldn’t trust you a second time, but I do, and here we are. If I didn’t want to be here with you right now, I wouldn’t, alright?” Rachel reassured.

Kristie nodded, relieved. 

“I’m really glad I came into your room before Christine, well.. did whatever she was going to do to you,” Kristie said quietly. 

“I really thought she was going to turn around and hurt you,” Rachel said. 

“She should be glad she didn’t; I’d go after that bitch a million times over.” Kristie answered, as the two giggled.

—

After returning to the apartment, Rachel suggested that they go for a walk, as they’d done no training or exercise during the day. Begrudgingly, Kristie agreed.  


The two explored Houston, and Rachel showed off spots that Kristie hadn’t seen before. They also snapped photos of each other that they posted without a second thought. Soon, both phones were lighting up with messages.

_omg no way, kris, we need details!!_ Mal’s text said in their group chat with Lindsey. 

_mal can finally stop wallowing in self-hatred over accidentally calling christine_ , Lindsey replied. 

_seriously though.. i am so sorry for everything that happened; i acted way out of line and i am really happy you finally got the girl_ , Lindsey texted again. 

_it’s alright, you guys! but listen, no more bets EVER again!!_ Kristie replied.  
  


Rachel received texts from Millie, and a few questioning messages from her teammates. She’d have to explain on Monday at practice, but she didn’t mind. Walking hand in hand with Kristie through the streets of her home away from home was something she never expected would really happen to her. 

As they made their way home, Rachel tried to soak it all in. During the past 24 hours, her life had changed dramatically, but something about it just felt so right. Somehow, it felt natural that Kristie was living in her apartment, and to Rachel, it always had. Christine was the one who made it into a problem for Rachel, and she knew it.

_Being with Kristie feels like coming home_ , Rachel thought. 

Back in the apartment, the blondes sat on the couch that Kristie had barely touched since she arrived in Houston, watching whatever movie was on. 

“Hey Rach,” Kristie said quietly.

“Yes?” Rachel answered, turning over toward the girl.

“Will you be mine? Like, can we try us again, for real?” Kristie hesitantly asked.

After a few seconds without an answer, Kristie began to worry. 

“I know I should say no...” Rachel began.

“But?” Kristie hoped as Rachel hesitated.

“How do I know if it’s right? If this really is it for us? It kind of feels like I recovered from drowning, and now I’m jumping back into the deep end of a pool without a life vest,” Rachel answered. 

“You’re right, Rachie, we don’t know if it’s right or if it’s forever. But I do know for sure that you don’t need a life vest, okay? I’m jumping in with you.” Kristie said.

”But you could have anyone you want, Kris. Why would you choose me?” Rachel asked.   


“You’re the one I want, Rach. Besides, what great story ever started off with me being able to get whoever I want?” Kristie smiled.   


“You’re sure I’m the one? Promise?” Rachel questioned. 

“Always,” Kristie smiled, pulling her in for a kiss. 


	24. the smutty bonus chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi y’all! as promised, here is the bonus chapter!! this is very very smutty so please be aware in advance! i can’t wait to be back soon with a new dewis fic! thank you all for reading 🧡
> 
> edit: oops i forgot to change the date to today 😩

A few days later, the duo found themselves in the same position; cuddled together on the couch while half-watching a random show. Kristie couldn’t focus, however hard she tried, because Rachel had other ideas in mind. The shorter girl was lazily running her fingertips up and down from Kristie’s ankle to her hip. 

“Rachie,” Kristie whined, shuddering. 

“Yes? Something wrong?” Rachel smirked. 

“You know what you’re doing,” Kristie mumbled. 

“Sorry, babe,” Rachel said. 

Kristie turned, throwing her leg across Rachel and straddling the girl’s lap. 

“Babe?” Kristie questioned. 

“Is that okay?” Rachel backpedaled. 

“Is it okay if I kiss you?” Kristie answered. 

“It’s more than okay,” Rachel answered, as Kristie cupped Rachel’s cheek and connected their lips. 

Rachel stood up while still holding Kristie as the taller girl’s legs wrapped around her waist.The two quickly headed to Rachel’s bedroom, Kristie giggling in Rachel’s arms as the shorter girl dropped her down onto the bed and straddled her. 

“I’ve missed this with you,” Kristie admitted.

“I know you have,” Rachel smirked, alluding to Kristie’s dream.

“Keep making fun and see if I touch you,” Kristie threatened, turning them over while giggling. 

“Alright, alright,” Rachel laughed.

“Rach, are you sure you want this?” Kristie asked, stopping. 

“I’m sure, Kris, I thought of you every time she kissed me. I wanted it to be you all along. I know it’s soon but it feels right,” Rachel admitted. 

“You just want me to kiss you? That’s all?” Kristie teased, to which Rachel shook her head. 

“Tell me,” Kristie egged on. 

Rachel reached for Kristie’s wrist, trying to place the girl’s hand where she wanted it most. 

“No, no, tell me, Rach,” Kristie breathed out. 

“I want you to touch me,” Rachel replied, quietly, to which Kristie smirked. 

“What? Sorry, I couldn’t hear you,” Kristie teased. 

“Kris,” Rachel whined in response. 

“What do you want, baby?” Kristie continued, whispering into Rachel’s ear. 

“Please touch me,” Rachel tried again. 

Kristie replied silently, bringing her hand above Rachel’s shirt to find her nipple hard while the other hand threaded through the shorter girl’s hair. 

Kristie knew that if she kissed Rachel’s neck any harder that the girl would have marks the next day, but Rachel’s whimpers egged her on. She could feel Rachel’s hips rocking toward her, begging for more. 

“Let’s get these off, hm?” Kristie asked as Rachel nodded eagerly, pulling at the waistband of her pants before tossing them to the ground. 

“Yours, off,” Rachel tried, as Kristie discarded her shorts. 

The taller girl slotted her leg between Rachel’s and began to find purchase on Rachel’s thigh as well, as their hips rocked toward each other. 

Kristie continued kissing down Rachel’s neck as Rachel whimpered and moaned, becoming even louder after Kristie pulled Rachel’s shirt over her head and took one nipple between her teeth and the other between her finger and thumb. 

Kristie hummed, sending the small vibrations from her voice onto Rachel’s skin, causing the girl to writhe even more. 

“Kris, please,” Rachel begged, as Kristie finally moved down to exactly where Rachel wanted her. 

Trying to see how worked up the girl could get, Kristie placed her lips over Rachel’s underwear, the thin fabric becoming the only barrier between Kristie’s tongue and Rachel’s clit. Rachel bucked her hips even harder toward Kristie, and the taller girl wished she could just cut the underwear off of her girlfriend. Instead, she lapped a few stripes up and down Rachel’s center, watching her become soaked and impossibly more sensitive. 

“Fuck, babe, off, take it off, please,” Rachel begged. 

Kristie smirked, loving the way Rachel begged her in bed, and slid the underwear down Rachel’s legs. Without warning, Kristie immediately returned her tongue to Rachel’s clit, and Rachel nearly screamed at the contact. 

“Kris, oh fuck,” the shorter girl moaned, squirming. 

“What do you want, baby?” Kristie asked, kissing around Rachel’s clit. 

“You- I- I want you... to fuck me,” Rachel breathed out, struggling to explain while Kristie’s lips pleased her. 

“With my fingers?” Kristie clarified, as Rachel nodded. 

Before she knew it, Kristie was teasing Rachel’s entrance with one finger; inserting it and grazing an extra sensitive spot inside. What Rachel didn’t see, though, was that Kristie was grinding against the bed, becoming wetter and wetter with every sound Rachel made. 

“More- please, more,” Rachel whimpered, as Kristie added another finger. 

“Yes, oh my god, just like that; please don’t stop,” Rachel moaned, as Kristie kept it up. 

Soon, the taller girl could feel Rachel’s walls tightening on her fingers, and she began licking even faster across Rachel’s clit. 

“Kris, baby, I’m- I’m coming,” Rachel moaned, squeezing hard around Kristie’s fingers as she rode out the orgasm. 

“That was amazing,” Rachel said, trying to get the words out. 

“Yeah?” Kristie smirked, still not moving from her spot. 

“Kris, can I-“ Rachel began to ask, until Kristie’s tongue darted back out onto her clit, resulting in Rachel giving a small yelp and trying to pull herself out of the grasp of the blonde whose strong hands held her hips down. 

“I can’t; there’s no way I could-” Rachel choked out as Kristie continued, smirking. 

The shorter girl began moaning again, her head tipping back as she felt a second orgasm pooling low in her gut. 

“There’s no way you could, huh? Want me to stop?” Kristie asked, replacing her tongue with her fingers.

“No, no please don’t stop!” Rachel squeaked. 

Returning her tongue again made Rachel squeal, and Kristie wanted to hear her girlfriend scream her name. She buried her same two fingers back inside of Rachel and curled them at the perfect angle. In just a few seconds, Rachel was cumming again, and this time, screaming for her girlfriend. 

“That’s what I thought,” Kristie smiled after, moving up to cuddle with her girl. 

“I want to return the favor,” Rachel said, quietly. 

“I- um, I came.. already,” Kristie admitted. 

Rachel’s eyebrows rose, but she had other ideas. 

“That’s still 2 to 1, babe. Would you try something with me?” Rachel asked. 

“What is it?” Kristie smiled, unsure on where this would lead. 

“I want to taste you,” Rachel explained, blushing. 

“Okay, but-“ Kristie began, until Rachel grabbed Kristie’s hip and pulled the girl over to straddle her chest. 

“I want you to ride my tongue,” Rachel admitted, becoming even more red. 

“Are you sure?” Kristie asked, becoming red herself. 

“I’m sure,” Rachel promised, pulling the girl closer. 

Kristie situated herself before lowering onto Rachel’s mouth, and gasped at the contact before grabbing for the wall above her headboard to keep her balance. Rachel made her knees weak anyway, but being fucked by her girlfriend’s tongue was making it even harder for Kristie to keep her legs from giving out. 

The two found a rhythm, and Rachel could tell Kristie wasn’t letting her weight lay on her, so she grabbed the girl’s hips, pulling her further down which made Kristie gasp and moan at the feeling. Riding Rachel’s face was incredibly hot to her, and she knew she was approaching her second orgasm quickly. 

“Rach,” she moaned, while Rachel squeezed her ass in one hand and pulled Kristie’s hips down with the other. 

“Rach, I’m so close,” Kristie groaned out, as the orgasm finally came crashing through her body. 

As she rode it out, Rachel continued to lap at the girl until Kristie couldn’t take it anymore and began peeling her legs away, smiling. 

“That was incredible,” Rachel said. 

“You, my girl, are incredible,” Kristie replied, as they cuddled up into a restful slumber. 

**Author's Note:**

> hi again!!! please leave a comment here if you liked this and if you didn’t, please don’t leave hate! 💛 xo me


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